As you can see, Lynn had great seasons in 2008 and 2009. Combining both years, he went 12-5 with a 2.61 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 175 1/3 innings. If you want to put that into perspective, Jaime Garcia is on pace to pitch 181 innings with St. Louis this season. So you can make of that what you wish.

2010 has obviously been a different story for Mr. Lynn. Inconsistent is the best word to use. Disappointing would be the next.

Why is he struggling? Nobody really knows. His coaches are saying his “stuff” is as good as ever, there are no real flaws in his mechanics, and his command has not gotten any worse.

Was he brought up too quickly? This is only his second full Minor League season, and he’s already in Triple-A. But then again, he’s 23 and he did pitch in college for three seasons. You can’t hardly blame the organization for not being afraid to promote him. After all, he did dominate every league he played in until this year.

When the Cardinals drafted him in the first round two years ago, everybody said the main thing he needed to improve on was his control. However, his BB/9 rates in 2010 aren’t horrible, and he’s actually walking less this year compared to last. The stat that really pops out to me is the HR/9 rate. In over 148 innings last season, he gave up only five home runs in 25 starts. So far this year, through 24 starts, Lynn has already given up 17 big flies. Something is obviously wrong there.

I suppose it could go back to control. Some pitchers focus so intently on throwing strikes, they forget to think about where exactly the ball is going to end up in the strike zone. This could very well be what’s happening in Lynn’s case.

The biggest problem though, is that every once in a while he goes out on the mound and gives up seven or eight runs. I was talking to a guy on twitter who watched Lynn throw seven innings of no-hit baseball against Oklahoma City. I on the other hand, was at the New Orleans game when he gave up eight runs in three innings. Again, inconsistency.

Four games in particular (he allowed eight runs once, seven runs twice, and six runs once) are killing his numbers. Taking those four games out, his ERA is hovering right around 3.40. That’s great and all, but never knowing which pitcher is going to show up is never good. Maybe he is suffering from Kyle Lohse - syndrome, who knows?

Nevertheless, we are dealing with a 23-year-old, 6’5″, first-round starting pitcher that is in Triple-A already. That has “top-prospect” written all over it.

Lynn’s still very young, and extremely raw. If he can figure out whatever is holding him back this year, expect him to be in the big leagues after a successful 2011 season in Memphis.