Lance Lynn
Michael Lance Lynn is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Between 2011 and 2024, he played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Playing college baseball for the Ole Miss Rebels, Lynn set the school's single-season and career pitching strikeout records. The Cardinals selected him in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft from the University of Mississippi. In 2009, he was named the Cardinals organizational Pitcher of the Year after playing in three levels and totaling a 2.85 earned run average and 124 strikeouts in innings pitched. He made his MLB debut on June 2, 2011, was a member of the Cardinals' World Series championship team that year, and a National League All-Star in 2012.
On May 27, 2014, Lynn pitched his first MLB career complete game and shutout. He earned his 500th MLB career strikeout three weeks later, and 50th career win April 15, 2015. Through 2015, he was the Cardinals' all-time franchise leader in career strikeouts per 9 innings pitched, with 8.7. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, Lynn missed the entire 2016 season. On June 18, 2023, he pitched 16 strikeouts against the Seattle Mariners in innings, tying the franchise record for most strikeouts by a White Sox pitcher in a single game.
Early life
Lynn was born on May 12, 1987, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Mike and Jenny Lynn. He was part of the Brownsburg, Indiana, Little League team that appeared in the 1999 Little League World Series. Brownsburg won the Central Regional Championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He attended Brownsburg High School, where he played on the baseball team, with teammate Drew Storen, a fellow future major league pitcher. Lynn earned All-State honors in his sophomore and junior season.As a junior, Lynn hit.509 with 14 home runs and 46 runs batted in. As a pitcher, he posted a 1.26 earned run average and 160 strikeouts in 100 innings pitched, a 10–3 win–loss record, and three saves. His team went 36–0 his senior year as they won the 4A state championship. That year, he hit.400 with 14 home runs; his ERA was 0.71 and record was 16–0.
At Brownsburg, Lynn's cumulative batting totals included a.473 average and 92 RBIs. His career pitching totals were a 39–4 record, 1.10 ERA, seven saves, and 455 strikeouts in 288 IP. For the state of Indiana, Lynn was the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2005. He was also a Louisville Slugger and Electronic Arts All-America selection. When Lynn played at the Area Code Games, Nike named him an All-Star, and he was teammates with fellow future Ole Miss Rebels baseball signees Evan Button and Scott Van Slyke.
The Seattle Mariners selected Lynn in the sixth round of the June 2005 MLB draft, but he did not sign.
College career
He instead chose to attend the University of Mississippi to play college baseball for the Ole Miss Rebels. In 2007, he set the Ole Miss single season and career strikeout records. He was named an All-Southeastern Conference second-team pitcher in 2007 and 2008. His overall college record was 22–12 with a 3.95 ERA.Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
The St. Louis Cardinals selected Lynn in the first round, with the 39th overall pick of the 2008 MLB draft.In 2009, Lynn was named the Cardinals' organizational Pitcher of the Year after jumping three levels in his first full professional season. His final start for the year was for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League. His season totals included a 2.85 ERA and 124 strikeouts in innings. He led all Cardinals minor league pitchers in strikeouts from 2009 to 2010.
Spending the entire 2010 season with Memphis, Lynn also led all Cardinals minor league pitchers in games started, was second with 164 innings pitched and 13 wins, and ninth with 7.74 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. In addition, he led the PCL in strikeouts and games started and was second in wins in 2010. On September 10, 2010, Lynn broke the Redbirds' single-game franchise strikeout record, with 16 against the Oklahoma City RedHawks in a playoff game. It was also the highest strikeout performance that year in all the minor leagues.
St. Louis Cardinals (2011–2015, 2017)
2011–2013
The club added Lynn to the 40 man roster and activated him on June 2, 2011. He made his MLB debut that night at Busch Stadium against the San Francisco Giants. In innings in the regular season with the Cardinals, Lynn notched 40 strikeouts while allowing 25 hits and 11 walks. A pulled flank muscle in August prevented him from appearing in a game until a surprise appearance in the postseason. On October 10, Lynn was awarded the win after throwing exactly one pitch in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. In the World Series, Lynn gave up back-to-back home runs in the top of the seventh to Adrián Beltré and Nelson Cruz. However, he won the World Series with the Cardinals, making a total of 10 appearances during the postseason after appearing in just 18 games during the 2011 regular season.After arriving at Cardinals spring training in February 2012, Lynn announced he would begin wearing the number 31. When Chris Carpenter went on the disabled list early in the season, Lynn replaced him in the rotation. He started strong, winning his first six games with an ERA of 1.40. One of his best games came on June 13 against the Chicago White Sox. He completed innings, struck out a career-high 12 batters, and gave up only three hits. That performance lowered his ERA to 2.42. He also became the second player that season to win 10 games behind R. A. Dickey.
Lynn finished his first half with a 3.41 ERA and 11–4 record in 17 starts. Subsequently, he was named to his first All-Star Game. However, he scuffled with a 5.23 ERA in his next eight starts, and was removed from the rotation. Joe Kelly replaced him in the rotation. Through his first 25 starts, he was 13–5 with a 3.93 ERA. His August ERA ballooned to 6.66 and his second-half ERA overall was 4.32. Lynn attributed his inconsistency to weight gain and poor conditioning. He finished the regular season with an 18–7 record and 180 strikeouts, 3.78 ERA in 35 games, 29 starts and 176 innings. His 9.2 K/9 rate placed fourth in franchise history. He placed second in the NL in wins, seventh in winning percentage, and fourth in K/9. Lynn was added back to the rotation in the NLDS against the Washington Nationals after the team shifted Jaime García to the DL due to a rotator cuff injury. He was the Game 5 starter in the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants, in which the Cardinals held a 3–1 series lead. However, he gave up four runs in innings as the Cardinals eventually lost the series.
The right-hander made a conscious effort to change his eating and conditioning habits to reach 200 innings in 2013. He showed up to ST weighing 239 pounds, about 41 pounds lighter than his last start in the 2012 NLCS. As a result, his teammates needled him with jokes, such as "Where's your other half?" from Adam Wainwright and "Who's the new guy?" from two others. He reached his season goal of 200 innings pitched, with, and was 15–10 with 198 strikeouts and 3.97 ERA. His ERA remained steady: 4.00 in the first half, 3.93 in the second of the season. He improved his ERA in September to 2.12. His win total was sixth in the NL, strikeouts ninth, and 33 starts placed second.
2014–2017
On the recommendation of the team chef Simon Lusky, Lynn decreased the amount of refined carbohydrates and fats in his diet. He showed up to 2014 Spring Training with an even slimmer look. In a Spring Training game on March 14, Lynn struck out 10 Atlanta Braves in four innings, including the final eight hitters he faced. On April 14, the Cardinals stopped the Milwaukee Brewers' nine-game winning streak behind Lynn's seven scoreless innings. Lynn, who had entered the game with a 6.55 ERA for the season, won his third decision behind 11 strikeouts and just three hits allowed as St. Louis prevailed 4–0. Against the Washington Nationals on April 19, he stroked his first career extra base hit — an RBI double — while picking up the decision for the win in a 4–3 victory.On May 27, Lynn pitched his first career complete game against the New York Yankees, a shutout. Making his 100th career MLB appearance and another start against the Nationals on Friday, June 13, Lynn pitched five perfect innings on his way to two hits through eight innings in a 1–0 victory over Jordan Zimmermann. In a 3–2 loss to the New York Mets five days later, he notched his 500th career strikeout, through 503 career innings. Baffling the Colorado Rockies on the corners of the strike zone on June 23, Lynn pitched another eight shutout innings in an 8–0 victory at Coors Field while allowing just three hits. The Cardinals made the playoffs again in 2014, and Lynn started one game each in the NLDS against the Dodgers and in the NLCS against the Giants. He finished with a 3.08 combined ERA and 11 strikeouts in innings.
Arbitration-eligible for the first time in his career, Lynn and the Cardinals agreed to a three-year, $22 million contract on January 15, 2015. It bought out his three remaining years before free agency and included up to an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses. Only Wainwright and Clayton Kershaw surpassed his win total in the National League over the previous three seasons. In that time, Lynn allowed a 3.48 ERA and 1.300 WHIP over 95 starts.
Making his 99th career start on April 15, 2015, Lynn earned his 50th career win in a 4–2 victory over Milwaukee. It was his 13th win in the month of April since 2012, the highest total in MLB. Through his first 12 starts of the season, he was 4–4 with a 3.07 ERA. However, after his June 7 start against the Dodgers, he suffered a right forearm strain. The Cardinals placed him on the DL on June 12. Lynn returned from the DL on June 24. He returned to action the next day against the Miami Marlins, pitching six scoreless innings in a 5–1 victory.
In a 10–5 loss to the Pirates on August 13, 2015, Lynn recorded just two outs while allowing seven runs total, three earned, a home run and six hits while throwing 41 pitches. It was the shortest outing of his career as a starter, and the quickest exit for a Cardinals starter since Anthony Reyes on October 1, 2006, by reason other than injury. After returning from the DL in June, Lynn started 19 games with an 8–7 record, 3.00 ERA and completed 102 innings, but made it through seven innings just once in his last six starts of the season.
He finished the 2015 season with a 12–11 record and 3.03 ERA in innings. He led all major league pitchers in fastball percentage. Through that point in his major league career, he allowed a.248 batting average against, and was the Cardinals all-time franchise leader with 8.7 K/9 among all players with at least 500 innings pitched for the club.
On November 10, 2015, the Cardinals announced that Lynn would miss the 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He began a rehab stint with the Palm Beach Cardinals on August 15, 2016, pitching scoreless innings.
Lynn rejoined the Cardinals' starting rotation in 2017, and finished the year making 33 starts with an 11–8 record and a 3.43 ERA. He led the major leagues in holding opposing batters to the lowest batting average on balls in play. He also led all major league pitchers in fastball percentage. After the season, Lynn became a free agent for the first time of his career.