The Pittsburgh Pirates will call up Andrew Lambo tomorrow, according to a Pirates press release. There was word on Twitter earlier today from what appeared to be a family member of Lambos that he was being called up. The corresponding roster moves have yet to be announced. The Pirates wont need to make a 40-man move, since there is an open spot, although a 25-man move will obviously need to be made.
Sometimes youve just got to give them the opportunity to find out if theyre ready, Clint Hurdle said last Wednesday.
Lambo is in the middle of a great season, where he has hit for a .284/.350/.576 line in 436 at-bats, with 31 homers between Double-A and Triple-A. He got off to a hot start in Indianapolis, then cooled for a bit in July. Lately he has been heating back up, with a .297/.395/.649 line in 37 at-bats over his last ten games.
Lambo, to his credit, hes doing some things we felt he was going to be able to do a couple years ago when we made the trade, Hurdle said. He was starting to get some traction. He was put on the 40-man, brought to Spring Training. It didnt work out. The second time out, its worked out much better. So his confidence is building.
Its hard to tell what kind of production or upgrade Lambo will bring to the Pirates as a rookie just making the jump to the majors. One thing that is for sure is that it would be hard for him to be worse than what Alex Presley, Jose Tabata, and Travis Snider have done this year. The Pirates have managed to be a first place team with that production in right field, so any added offense from Lambo would be a bonus to this team. He might not be a 31 homer a year guy in the majors, but even if he hits a modest 15-20 homers, thats more than the pace of all three of the current right field options combined.
