Tyler Lumsden

Tyler Ryan "Lump" Lumsden (born May 9, 1983) was a left-handed pitcher for the 2006 Birmingham Barons.

Lumsden grew up in Roanoke, Virginia where he was a high school teammate of basketball star J. J. Redick. At 6'-4", Lumsden's first love was basketball, but he gave up hoops scholarships and a $500,000 5th-round flyer from the Florida Marlins in the 2001 draft to join the Clemson baseball team. In college, Lumsden went 17-7 with a 4.23 ERA in 37 starts for the Tigers. He was drafted between the 1st and 2nd rounds (34th overall) of the 2004 amateur entry draft by the Chicago White Sox and played part of that year for the Winston-Salem Warthogs of the A+ Carolina League. He went 3-1 with a 4.12 ERA in his debut season.

In 2005 Lumsden underwent Tommy John surgery, and returned to baseball in 2006. At White Sox spring training he pitched 2.2 innings, allowing 3 earned runs and was sent to play for AA Birmingham. He earned a trip to the Southern League All-Star Game in July with a 9-2 record and 2.74 ERA at midseason, but lost his next two decisions after the break. His ERA remained low, at 2.69, but there was concern about his low strikeout total, with only 72 in 123.2 innings of work. His featured pitch is the slider, but his fastball is also well-regarded. Lumsden is ambidextrous, but pitches only left-handed.

On July 23, 2006, Lumsden was traded, along with right-handed pitcher Daniel Cortes to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for reliever Mike MacDougal. He is currently pitching for the AA Wichita Wranglers, and has gone 2-1 in 6 starts with a 3.06 ERA.

References

• Segrest, Doug (July 10, 2006) "Barons' Lumsden makes best of second love." Birmingham News.