Dinelson Lamet returned from Tommy John surgery last year better than Tommy John returned from his own surgery, and he invented the stupid surgery after a night out with the guys. Here’s a conversation with Bill Russell of the 1976 Dodgers, and Tommy John:
“Hey, are you the same Bill Russell that plays basketball?”
“Stop asking me that. You know I’m not.”
“I think I’m blind from Me Surgery.”
“You’re not blind and stop calling it ‘Me surgery.'”
“It’s Tommy John surgery and I’m Tommy John, so to me it’s Me Surgery, and you don’t know if it made me blind because it’s my surgery.”
“I know it didn’t make you blind because you drove us to this bar!”
“One day everyone will call it Tommy John surgery.”
“I hate you.”
And that’s how Bill Russell of the 1976 Dodgers began calling UCL reconstruction surgery, ‘Tommy John Is A Pain In The Ass surgery.’ So, what can we expect from Dinelson Lamet for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
After having Tommy John surgery mid-April of 2018, Dinelson Lamet returned on July 4th of this year (what’s that, under 14 months? Works for me!), and went 3-5/4.07/1.26/105 in 73 IP. That strikeout rate has me driving into the ocean with a hovercraft, puncturing the hovers and rubbing myself on passing dolphins. Yes, I could’ve just drove my car into the ocean, but I would’ve never got far enough out to prime dolphin territory, so dur to you. He had the third best K/9 for starters with 13. Only two starters better than him were Gerrit Cole and Chris Sale. Oh…*grabs onto a dolphin as it romantically swims me around the world*…kay. That was in his return from Tommy John surgery to say the unsaid that has already been said numerous times already. Are? You? Kidding? Yes, I brought out the rarely seen one word questions for emphasis. This was after he spent the first month of his return never going more than five innings in a start, and going only four innings in two starts. Usually command is the last thing to return for pitchers returning from TJ (not Tijuana). Well, in Dinelson Lamet’s last major league season, his BB/9 was 4.3. Last year, it was 3.7. Haha, I just fainted from love. His perfs (what the kids call them) in September were 14.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. I’m sorry, does sliced bread say to you, “You’re the greatest thing since me?” His 3.44 xFIP is TASTY pronounced like those videos that everyone’s aunt reposts on Facebook. He does have a problem with homers allowed, so I’m gonna lean on his still solid 3.91 FIP. Lamet does only have two pitches he relies on, so that’s a slight concern, but there’s a reason why he’s a sleeper and not the 1st pitcher off the board. In the last few years, Patrick Corbin, Luis Severino and Luis Castillo added an extra pitch to great success, to name a few random pitchers I thought of quickly (about 37 seconds). Not saying Dinelson Lamet will add another pitch, but, if he does, he will be a top ten starter this year. If he doesn’t, he will still be well worth your time at his current ADP. For 2020, I’ll give Dinelson Lamet projections of 10-11/3.86/1.22/219 in 168 IP with a chance for more.
