Real emotional blast

Photo credit - James Lamb

Orange County, CA – It’s been quite some time since sharing any ideas or experiences around professional baseball. No excuse is probably good enough, so no reason will be offered. All emotions attached to the full season minor league games within the Kansas City Royals farm system stay relatively calm until every fifth or sixth day. Sure we pay attention to every game for the team John Lamb (2-2, 3.32) plays with but the real emotional blast only surfaces whenever he “toes the slab.” Fortunately, he continues to serve his fellow Wilmington Blue Rocks, Advanced Class A affiliate of the Royals, as a starting pitcher which gives his friends and family time to recuperate along with his arm between appearances.

Anyone that enjoys the game appreciates the wide spectrum of emotions during the slow tendencies involved with play. An eager anticipation is experienced by coaches, players and fans alike. The variety of blood pressure levels attached to every pitch, ball in play, catch or throw is uniformly shared throughout all whom love the game. A pitcher trying to throw a quality pitch with a batter in the box clearly begins the entire emotional process. This simple example of anxiety, one pitch at a time, can be magnified to unbelievable levels when your son pitches.

Photo credit - Brad Glazier

John has had four starts in the Carolina League this year. He missed an appearance due to the club directing him to skip a start for additional arm rest. This is his first full season effort since undergoing elbow surgery in June 2011 when he was playing for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Double A affiliate in the Texas League. Any major mid-season injury can make an athlete feel like time stands still during the process of recovery. Watching one season end and another begin without participating can be a challenge on any player. The positive note during this past off-season was that the Kansas City Royals management placed John on the 40 man roster. Lefty sounded to be a little closer to expectations this past Tuesday night in Wilmington, DE as he helped with the fantastic team effort of ending a seven game slide.

The kid is set to hold ball again this Saturday in Lynchburg, VA against the Hillcats, Atlanta Braves affiliate, based on the team’s current forecast of starting rotations. Listen in on the game’s broadcast for free at BlueRocks website and get a little taste of professional minor league baseball. The Lamb’s will positively be connected for another real emotional blast of adrenaline. 

Last win for the teenager Lamb...Blue Rocks sweep series!

Lynchburg, VA - Three Wilmington Blue Rocks pitchers combined on a shut out performance to make a clean sweep of the Lynchburg Hillcats series and allowing only four hits. John Lamb, Harold Mozingo and Barry Bowden kept the Hillcats from scoring despite the threat when Lamb was pulled from the game with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with no outs and two runners on base.

 

Although the Blue Rocks bats were much cooler than last night, they proved more than adequate in helping Wilmington achieve a 43-43 record. The Rocks finished their road trip with a 5-2 mark and sole possession of first place. Nick Francis, Jarrod Dyson, Christian Colon and, the legitimate youngster of the team, Wil Myers drove in all the Rocks runs. Timely hitting, solid defense and good pitching again prove to be the simple formula to win baseball games even with a little moisture falling from the sky.



With John Lamb turning 20 tomorrow, he finished his teenage professional baseball stats on a high note by picking up his fifth win in the ten starts since being called up to the, Advanced Class A level, Carolina League. Lamb threw 75% of his 72 pitches for strikes while allowing 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and striking out 4.



The Blue Rocks return home for an eight day home stand and a day off between the next two series. They will play Myrtle Beach Pelicans for three games starting tomorrow and a four game series against Frederick Keys following a day off the schedule.



GO BLUE ROCKS!

Lamb and Blue Rocks try to sweep Lynchburg...tonight.

 John Lamb will get the ball tonight against the Lynchburg Hillcats for his 18th start of the season at 6:05 ET. The Wilmington Blue Rocks are also attempting a series sweep to end the current Carolina League road trip. Tonight will also mark the end of Lamb being a teenager during his professional baseball career.




A few more nerves floating around my stomach over tonight's game. Last nights 21 hit pounding on Lynchburg found the Blue Rocks 2.5 games in first place. Bats seem to have a tendency to get quiet after big outings and I can only hope there are just enough hits, catches and solid pitching to give the Blue Rocks the series.



GO BLUE ROCKS!

Lamb good again...Rocks take the series!

John Lamb gave his Wilmington Blue Rocks a chance to win with his 8th start of the year in the Carolina League. It is can always be somewhat of a challenge to pitch on the road, but Lamb continues to be steady with the numbers home or away during his first full season in professional baseball.

Lamb had a high pitch count during his work tonight due to patient Frederick Keys hitters and again the high strike-out count. The line on Lamb was 4 innings, 6 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 1 walk and 7 strike-outs in 86 pitches. When Lamb handed the ball to the bull-pen the Blue Rocks had a 3-1 lead, but unfortunately could not qualify for the win.




Hodgson and Mozingo both teamed up to hold off a late inning surge in the bottom of the 9th to take the series from the Keys in Frederick, MD. Ivor Hodgson had a very solid performance into the 9th and qualified for the win, while Harold Mozingo came in and got the save.



Adrian Ortiz hit his first Blue Rocks home run during his 4-for-5 night at the plate. Another note, worth mentioning was the Christian Colon debut that was very quiet at the plate. He finished the night 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. It is very safe to say that this will not be the only night he has nothing to show at the plate, during his career, but the kid can simply play the game and he is a wonderful addition to the organization.

The Blue Rocks return home to fend off the Lynchburg Hillcats, Advanced Class A team of the Cincinnati Reds organization, for a short 3 game stand. The current rotation has Lamb pitching the next two starts on the road and he will not be throwing at home until July 15. At least he won’t be a teenager the next time he pitches in front of the Wilmington crowd.
 
 
- - - James Lamb
 
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