Lamb Finds New Home at Third

When Mike Lamb was drafted and signed by the Texas Rangers in 1997, he was caught by surprise when team officials told him to put away his catcher’s gear and grab an infielder’s glove.

Lamb thought he had been a pretty good catcher at Cal State Fullerton, although a small one at 185 pounds. He led the Titans in home runs (10) and RBIs (70) that season and was also named to the Big West Conference all-tournament team.

But the Rangers, more attracted to his bat than his catching, believed Lamb had a better future at third base. Besides, they already have Ivan Rodriguez, one of the top catchers in baseball.

Still Lamb--who had not been a catcher until going to Fullerton from La Puente Bishop Amat--wasn’t completely convinced it was the right move because he had always been told catching was the quickest way to reach the majors.

“I was confused when they told me to change,” Lamb said. “But I also had to admit that catching is draining. At the 1997 regionals I was pretty tired; I had never caught that long [a season].”

Two years later it looks like the Rangers knew best. Through 60 games Lamb is batting .339 with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs for the Rangers’ double-A team in Tulsa, Okla.

He has the eighth highest batting average in the Texas League. He is second in RBIs, third in hits (82) and leads the league in doubles (26).

Lamb, 23, has hit well at every minor league level. In 1997 he batted .335 with nine home runs and 47 RBIs in 60 games with Pulaski in the Appalachian League. Last year, in his first full season of pro ball, Lamb hit .302 with nine home runs and 93 RBIs in 135 games for single-A Charlotte in the Florida State League, even though he felt tired in the second half. “It was the most games I’d ever played,” Lamb said.

Lamb believes he has accelerated his progress this season. He leads Tulsa in average, home runs and RBIs. He said he no longer feels like a converted catcher at third base. He led Florida State League third basemen last year in fielding percentage (.931), and he continues to get smoother in the field.

“Now I feel a lot more comfortable,” Lamb said. “I’ve learned the angles in going after the ball, when to charge it and when to wait. It’s a knock-it-down, throw-them-out position. And the jump of the ball off a wooden bat is not as quick as it is off aluminum.”

Lamb said that adding 10 pounds of muscle in the off-season has made a difference.

“I’ve always been smaller than everyone else on my teams,” Lamb said. “So I had to learn to hit line drives, not just sit there and go for home runs.

“Having more weight this year has helped; it seems I’m driving the ball better. I’ve also been getting good pitches to hit and not missing them. I’m in a better rhythm. I had an idea [how to prepare] for a longer season after 536 at-bats last year.”

Tulsa Manager Bobby Jones said that before this season he had never really seen Lamb play “except for a couple of times at spring training.” But he has been impressed.

“He’s been outstanding,” Jones said. “He’s got a great work ethic, plays hard, and has been swinging the bat well since the season began. He hits left-handers and right-handers equally well.

“I had heard there were some questions about his defense, but it’s been very good. In fact he probably makes the barehanded pickup play on a slow ground ball better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

When the season began Lamb was rated by Baseball America as the Rangers’ 15th best prospect. But that may change.

He has a good chance of being selected for the Texas League all-star game. And the Rangers, who invited Lamb to their major league spring training for the first time in March, could be facing a difficult decision.

Lamb is signed through the end of this year. The Rangers will probably re-sign him, but should they want to give him a shot at making the big club, they will have to place him on their 40-man roster and drop someone else.

“I want to make it as tough for them as possible,” Lamb said.

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Lamb is not the only former Titan on the Tulsa roster doing well.

Right-hander Ted Silva looks to have recovered from the torn Achilles’ tendon that caused him to miss the 1998 season. His 5-2 record is tops among Drillers starters. In 11 games (nine starts) Silva has given up 52 hits and 24 earned runs in 62 2/3 innings. He has struck out 42 and walked 11.

Jones said Silva still has moments when tendinitis flares up in his elbow and the team is being careful how it uses him. Nonetheless, Silva seems to have found the form that enabled him to go 13-10 in 1997 with Tulsa, and make him one of the Rangers’ brighter prospects.

“He’s crafty,” Jones said. “He won’t blow you away with fastballs, but he has very good control.”