Daniel Lynch

Lynch now has three years of major league experience under his depth, and the overall results do not tell the whole story. His 11-23 career record with a 5.18 ERA and 9.9% K-BB% are tough on the eyeballs, but he has shown improvements at times year over year. His 2023 progress was stunted by shoulder troubles which saw his strikeout rate plummet as his fastball lost nearly two miles an hour in the process. The shining star on his 2023 resume was a changeup he threw exclusively to righties that the league hit .125 against while swinging and missing 35% of the time. Lynch's current value is rock bottom and frankly, still not mixed league viable, but if his shoulder is 100 percent recovered and he can get back some of his lost velocity to pair with that changeup to righties and his slider to lefties, he may finally be able to provide some value to AL-Only fantasy managers this season.

The Royals had one of the worst rotations in the majors last season, and unfortunately, Lynch was part of the problem there. He pitched to a 5.13 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and 122:52 K:BB across 131.2 innings spanning 27 starts in his first full season. His 3.6 BB/9 stands out as the biggest issue -- he'll need to trim that down by about one walk per nine innings to really start finding effectiveness. He surrendered less than a home run per start, but hitters still tagged him for a 47.7 percent hard-hit rate. His 19.2 percent whiff rate on a 94 mph fastball that he threw nearly half of the time in 2022 simply isn't good enough. Lynch has a chance to make the rotation again in 2023, but there are improvements to be made -- with the Royals changing their pitching coach, new input could be a benefit for the southpaw.

Lynch made his major-league debut last season and made 15 starts for the Royals, and he had a 5.69 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 55:31 K:BB across 68 innings. He entered the campaign as the organization's top pitching prospect, but his 7.7 percent K-BB% is a good indicator of his struggles in his first taste of the big leagues. The 25-year-old could begin the season at the back end of Kansas City's starting rotation, but it may require the team to employ a six-man rotation, so his role may not be stable.

Kansas City's host of prized young pitchers started to debut last season, but Lynch, who entered the year as the team's top pitching prospect remained at the alternate training site. The 6-foot-6 southpaw has more electric stuff than Brady Singer or Kris Bubic, but harnessing that stuff and developing his changeup required more time than the condensed season provided. He sits in the mid-90s with his fastball (touches 99) and already boasts a wipeout slider, so Lynch may have been called upon to debut out of the bullpen had the Royals factored into the postseason picture. He made strides with his changeup all summer and is now comfortable throwing it to same-handed hitters. The 24-year-old also throws an average curveball. If Lynch's command and changeup look ready, he should join the big-league rotation in the first half of this season.

Lynch, the 34th-overall pick in 2018, missed almost two months in the middle of the year with arm soreness, but he was very effective when healthy and finished the year strong in the Arizona Fall League. He is pretty advanced in that he throws four usable pitches (fastball and slider are plus, fringe-average changeup is his fourth-best offering) and has good command/control (7.0 BB% at High-A). However, at 6-foot-6, 190 pounds he is also very projectable with a chance to add velocity (fastball already sits 94-95 mph) and develop even better command. The wiry southpaw was one of the best pitchers in the AFL, logging a 19:4 K:BB in 14 innings while setting the stage for an assignment to Double-A for his age-23 season. As things stand, he projects to be a solid No. 3 starter, but if his curveball and changeup improve, he could be better than that. His future home park and division add to the appeal.

Royals GM Dayton Moore embraced his Atlanta Braves roots in the first draft of his full-on rebuild, selecting five pitchers in the first 58 picks. Lynch, who received an under-slot $1.6975 million bonus after getting popped with the 34th overall pick, had the best debut of those five hurlers. He was absolutely dominant over 51.1 innings in the Appy League and Sally League, with more strikeouts (61) than baserunners (53) and a 26.8 K-BB% that would have led all Low-A and High-A pitchers had he thrown enough innings to qualify. He also posted a groundball rate over 50% across both stops. A 6-foot-6, 190-pound southpaw out of Virginia, Lynch commands a plus 93-95 mph fastball, which allows him to get into favorable counts. From there, he is able to sit hitters down with a plethora of quality offspeed pitches -- his plus mid-80s slider is his best secondary offering. He should move quickly in his age-22 season, likely finishing the year at Double-A or Triple-A.