Justin Lamkin Explains Pitching Plan as Fall League Run Continues

Pitcher Justin Lamkin has become one of the better stories in the Kansas City Royals farm system this fall.

The 22-year-old left-hander was named the league's Pitcher of the Week on Monday, and he followed that up with another solid start for the Surprise Saguaros on Wednesday.

His first outing on Oct. 6 was rough, as he gave up five runs, four of them earned, in three innings in his first start in four and a half months, but he has been much sharper since then.

The best night came on Oct. 21 at Mesa, when he threw 4 1/3 perfect innings and struck out four of the 13 batters he faced, with 40 of his 52 pitches going for strikes, as noted when the league handed out its weekly awards.

Surprise took a no-hitter into the seventh inning that night, and the Saguaros also have outfielder Zion Rose, the team's first-round pick this year, who has been hitting well in Arizona.

Lamkin then went four innings against Mesa again on Oct. 28, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and one walk, which leaves him with a 3.52 ERA and 14 strikeouts against four walks over 15 1/3 innings in four starts.

The Royals took Lamkin in the second round of the 2025 draft out of Texas A&M, and MLB Pipeline now has him as the No. 8 prospect in the system.

Kansas City asked him to add a curveball last offseason, and he has leaned on that pitch more in Arizona as a slower look to go with his slider.

He opened up about that work earlier this month, and he also talked about the type of pitcher he wants to be.

"I think trying to get back to who I am as a pitcher would be more like north-south, especially to righties. It's what I worked on in my side last week," Lamkin said after one of his early starts in Arizona.

Velocity is what is still missing, since Lamkin was throwing his four-seam fastball around 93-95 mph before he got hurt, up from 91-93 in college, but averaged 92.4 mph in his second Fall League start.

A left shoulder injury ended his regular season after May 25, and before that he had a 2.04 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 14 walks in 39 2/3 innings between High-A Quad Cities and Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

The Royals went 69-93 and finished last in the American League Central.

Their rotation had a 4.58 ERA, which ranked 25th in the majors, and MLB.com reported that pitchers Cole Ragans, Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert and Luinder Avila are not expected to be ready by the end of spring training.

Lamkin will not fix that next April, and I would not rush him, but a healthy lefty who throws strikes and has four pitches is what this organization needs in the system, especially with a young starter like pitcher Noah Cameron already in the rotation picture.

If Lamkin gets his fastball back to where it was in the spring, I think he can push for a look in Kansas City at some point in 2027.