John Lamb, one of the pitchers that Cincinnati acquired in the trade for Johnny Cueto, will make his MLB debut this Friday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. While he didn't show up on Baseball America's top 10 list before the season, or even on MLBPipeline, Lamb has been extremely effective in 2015.
He pitched 94.1 innings for the Royals at AAA and posted an ERA of 2.67, and an FIP of 3.58. In 17 innings for the Reds AAA team, he lowered each of those figures to 2.65, and 2.11, respectively. Lamb has struggled with injury in his career thus far, and had to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2011.
Over at Royals Review, Minda Haas has a great piece detailing his long road to the majors, as well as his repertoire.
Lamb posses a fastball "which tops [out] at 96 or so and sits around 92. But along the way, other factors have evolved to support the fastball. He added a slider in 2013, because he wasn't getting left-handers out, which is the first thing a left-handed pitcher out to be able to do. And his curveball, which he can sometimes drop in at 65 mph, is more effective now that his fastball has gotten, well, faster."
It's unclear as of now if Lamb's call-up is temporary or rather his chance to prove himself as a long-term option for the Reds; but the latter would seem to make the most sense. Cincinnati is not contending for anything this season, and with Cueto and Mike Leake gone, it would make a lot of sense for them to get a feel for what Lamb can do at the major league level.