San Diego Padres: Dinelson Lamet becoming a force

With high hopes of having a great year for the San Diego Padres, right handed flame thrower Dinelson Lamet looked fantastic in his first start of the 2020 season.

Dinelson Lamet at the age of 28 has not yet made his complete breakthrough for the San Diego Padres, but with Tommy John fully behind him this could the season. Last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a good start.

While Lamet only went five innings, he still looked as good as anyone could’ve hoped. Here was his line:

5.0 IP / 5 H / 1 R / 1 BB / 8 SO

8 Ks in just 5 innings is amazing. Over half the outs that he recorded in the start were by the strikeout. While he was held to throwing 80 pitches and 5 innings, he was still dominant while he was on the mound.

His fastball/slider combo is looking like it could become a serious force. Here is a nasty overlay of the two pitches from last night:

His 4 seamer topped out at 100 MPH and averaged 97.8 MPH last night. His slider averaged at 87.3 MPH and was pretty unhittable. He threw it 40 times and registered 8 swinging strikes, 10 called strikes, and 9 fouls.

These are really the only two pitches Dinelson Lamet throws which is obviously not a full repertoire, but if he can continue to throw them this effectively and hitting his spots then watch out.

In only 73 innings in 2019, he had a very solid year with a 4.07 ERA. While that isn’t amazing, he was still among the league’s best at one thing. Striking out batters.

Among all MLB starters in 2019 with at least 70 IP, Dinelson Lamet and his 12.95 K/9 ranked 3rd behind only Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole. You can’t get much better at sitting down hitters than that, and that’s what you look for in a pitcher today. Electric stuff to strike out batters, and Lamet certainly checks that box.

It will be fun to watch and see how the rest of this 2020 goes for Lamet. If he can continue to be very effective with his electric arm he’ll give the San Diego Padres a great shot at a playoff spot with the new extended format.

While this doesn’t mean a great season is now a definite, last night was still a great sign for Lamet and all the Lamet believers. Fans should keep an eye out for Dinelson Lamet for the rest of the 2020 season.