The Trib had a nice summary of what Lynn brings to the Sox...
The Chicago White Sox wanted to add a proven and dependable pitcher to their rotation.
They did just that late Monday, acquiring veteran right-hander Lance Lynn in a trade with the Texas Rangers.
Lynn finished fifth in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2019 and sixth in the 2020 voting.
“Those who have followed him know how dominant Lance has been over the last couple of seasons with Texas,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Tuesday during a conference call. “Some of that transition occurs toward the end of the 2018 season when he was acquired by the Yankees. Since that point, he’s been one of the better pitchers in all of baseball.
“We feel he provides us not only another alternative at the front of the rotation but a positive clubhouse presence and someone that we look forward to relying on not only over the course of the regular season but hopefully deep into October as well.”
Lynn has a 104-71 career record with a 3.57 ERA in 260 outings (236 starts) for the St. Louis Cardinals (2011-17), Minnesota Twins (2018), New York Yankees (2018) and Rangers (2019-20).
When asked about his reaction to the trade, Lynn said he was “excited.”
“When you saw what this team was able to do and you’ve seen it coming, to be a part of it, it’s exciting,” he said. “I like to win and I’m looking forward to having that opportunity.”
Here are four stats that highlight Lynn’s successful 2020 season: -Lynn tied for the major-league lead with 13 starts in the pandemic-shortened season. He was tied for fifth in the AL in 2019 with 33 starts.
-Lynn has made at least 30 starts in a season five times, and his 33 starts in 2017 for the Cardinals tied for first in the National League.
-He made 29 starts and six appearances out of the bullpen during his All-Star season in 2012 with the Cardinals.
-He also made 29 starts while with the Twins and Yankees in 2018. That season included two more outings in a relief role.
Making the starts is one thing. Going deep in the games is another, and Lynn constantly has shown the ability to eat up innings.
He led baseball with 84 innings pitched in 2020 and was tied for fourth in the AL with a career-high 208⅓ innings in 2019.
Lynn pitched 201⅔ innings in 2013 and 203⅔ the next season. He has pitched 1,426⅔ innings for his career.
He has thrown 100-plus pitches a major league-best 44 times since 2019 and is second in starts of six-plus innings (36) and seven-plus innings (21).
“When you look at a guy like Lynn and his track record and durability over the course of the season, he’s an extremely strong stalwart piece of a quality rotation,” Hahn said. “Given again where we are as an organization and what we think we are capable of doing in 2021, being able to know that every fifth day is someone like Lance is going to be, health permitting, able to take the ball, that’s an important element to this deal.”
Lynn finished fifth in the AL with 89 strikeouts. His new teammate Lucas Giolito was second in the league with 97 strikeouts in 72⅓ innings.
Lynn had a career-high 246 strikeouts in 2019, finishing fourth in the AL. Giolito was seventh with 228 strikeouts in 176⅔ innings.
Lynn has placed in the top 10 in strikeouts per nine innings four times in his career, twice in the NL (2012-13) and twice in the AL (2019-20). He was 10th in the AL in 2020 (9.54).
Lynn said he was looking forward to the friendly rivalries and pushing each other when asked about joining a staff with Giolito and Dallas Keuchel.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re all keeping each other accountable and keep going,” Lynn said.
3.32
Lynn was 10th in the AL with a 3.32 ERA in 2020. He was seventh in the AL in ERA (3.67) in 2019.
He began 2020 with 18 consecutive scoreless innings and went 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his first eight starts.
Lynn was third in the AL with a 2.53 ERA entering his final start on Sept. 24 against the Houston Astros, but he allowed nine runs in 5⅔ innings.
“His last start was pretty rough and it messed up the numbers for that month so I think if you go start-by-start it’s a little better than just the full month,” Hahn said when asked of Lynn’s September. “We looked at everything and know where he sits in terms of the elements of his pitches and what’s reasonable to project going forward. Feel pretty good about this one, knock on wood.”
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