The St. Louis Cardinals announced the signing of Los Angeles Dodgers free agent Lance Lynn to a one-year contract which includes a club option for 2025 that reunites the right-hander with his former organization.
Lynn was originally selected by the Cardinals in the 1st round, 39th overall, of the 2008 MLB Draft out of the University of Mississippi. He pitched for the Cardinals from 2011-17 posting a 3.38 ERA over 977.2 innings with 919 strikeouts.
“We are excited to have Lance back with the Cardinals, he was a big part of our success when he was here,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “Lance brings a veteran mindset, built on durability, experience, and his ability to work a high volume of innings. His addition is an important piece as we continue assembling our rotation and roster for next season.”
In 2023, Lynn pitched 183 innings with a 5.73 ERA and 5.53 FIP, along with 191 strikeouts and a 1.39 WHIP while splitting the season with the Chicago White Sox and Dodgers. He also allowed an MLB-worst 44 home runs allowed, and he gave up four more during his lone postseason start.
After getting traded to the Dodgers, Lynn showed some signs of success, recording seven quality starts while limiting his opponents to three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts. However, he ultimately regressed to levels below where he was at with the White Sox.
Over his 12-year Major League career, Lynn has pitched to a 3.74 ERA cumulating 1,889 innings with 1,906 strikeouts. He currently ranks in the top-10 among active Major League pitchers in wins (136, 7th), games started (317, 8th), innings pitched (8th), strikeouts (9th) and opponent batting average (.243, 10th). His ERA (3.74) ranks 12th among actives.
Since signing as a free-agent with the Minnesota Twins in 2018, the 36-year-old has also pitched for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, White Sox and Dodgers. He was was an All-Star in 2021 with the White Sox and was an American League Cy Young Award finalist in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Lance Lynn history with Cardinals
A member of two Cardinals World Series qualifying teams, Lynn appeared in relief in 10 postseason games for the 2011 World Championship squad as a rookie, and made three postseason starts for the 2013 National League Champions. He currently ranks second all-time in Cardinals postseason appearances with 24, trailing only Adam Wainwright’s 29.
Lynn’s 919 career strikeouts as a member of the Cardinals ranks 11th in club history and he is one of six Cardinals pitchers with five seasons of 150 or more strikeouts along with Bob Gibson (11), Wainwright (8), Chris Carpenter (5), Steve Carlton (5) and Dizzy Dean (5).
Since becoming a starting pitcher in 2012, Lynn posted three seasons with 200 or more innings pitched, coming in 2013, 2014 and 2019; two of those with the Cardinals. The veteran was also selected to his first All-Star Game in 2012.
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