KANSAS CITY, MO: Dinelson Lamet, a right-hander, was signed by the Royals to a minor league contract on Friday morning. He chose to leave the Dodgers' minor league contract early in the previous month, and for the last six weeks, he has been a free agent.
Given that layoff, it's likely that he'll work up at a low-level affiliate before moving on to Triple-A Omaha. Representative for Lamet is the MVP Sports Group.
Prior to being designated for assignment, the 31-year-old Lamet worked 4 1/3 innings with L.A. back in April. A few months after accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City, he decided to withdraw. Lamet's brief stay with the Dodgers included one run allowed.
He pitched in the Triple-A rotation for the remainder of his stay with the team, recording a 4.82 ERA in 37 1/3 innings while striking out 22.5% and walking 12.9% of batters.
Lamet appeared to be one of the National League's more promising young guns at one point in his career. When he made his Padres debut in 2017 as a 24-year-old, he held his own with a 4.57 ERA and a respectable 28.7% strikeout rate in 21 starts.
Tommy John surgery kept him out of action for the next year, but he made a huge comeback in 2019 with a 4.07 ERA and 33.5% strikeout rate. A complete breakthrough occurred during the cut-shortened 2020 season, when the right-hander placed fourth in the National League Cy Young voting after recording a perfect 2.09 ERA, a career-high 34.8% strikeout rate, and a robust 7.5% walk rate.
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