Top Royals Pitching Prospect John Lamb To Have Tommy John Surgery

The lefthanded Lamb will turn 21 next month and had a breakout season in 2010 split between Single-A and Double-A ball. Baseball America ranked him as the Royals’ No. 1 pitching prospect before this season and John Sickels of Minor League Ball rated him as the No. 6 overall Royals prospect for 2011:

6) John Lamb, LHP, Grade B+: Slippage in Double-A keeps him from A- at this time, but an outstanding prospect.Presumably, with the usual 18-month recovery period, Lamb will be back on a pitcher’s mound before he turns 23, which would still give him a good shot at a productive major league career.