RHP prospect Lambert hoping to ride AFL excellence to Mets' roster

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Ryan Lambert had pretty clear instructions in this year’s Arizona Fall League. 

After pitching only 25 2/3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse this season due to a right forearm flexor injury, he was headed to the Surprise Saguaros to get extra experience ahead of a push for the Mets’ Major League bullpen in 2027. But since he walked more batters (28) than he had frames at the Minors’ top level, he also had to make serious improvements in the control department with that additional time.

More reps mean more opportunities for experimentation, and the 24-year-old right-hander may have landed on something that could help him achieve all of his goals.

In live at-bats before the Fall League began, Lambert started incorporating a low-80s breaking ball using the sweeper grip he had used in his days at Northern Iowa Community College and the Northwoods League in 2022. There was much larger gloveside movement (10-17 inches of horizontal break) compared to his 87-91 mph harder slider, but it also unlocked something in him mechanically. To get the right feel to make the bigger breaker effective, he had to pull in his glove and keep it tighter to his body, and that became a trigger for his entire arsenal.

“It feels like my mechanics are more towards the plate,” Lambert said. “It honestly makes me feel like my fastball is going to play better off of that. Everything’s through the catcher.”

The 2024 eighth-rounder didn’t allow a hit and struck out 10 of his 22 batters faced over six relief innings for Surprise this autumn (plus a perfect frame in the AFL Championship Game). He walked four batters in that short sample, but even an 18.2 percent walk rate is trending in the right direction compared to his 23.2 mark from the regular season (including rehab stints with Single-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn), enough to help Lambert earn a spot on the National League Fall Stars roster.

The need to find workable control for Lambert is real because he very clearly has Major League-quality stuff. Throwing from a borderline over-the-top delivery, the 6-foot-3 hurler generates exceptional cut-ride action on a 96-98 mph four-seamer that’s made it tough to touch at every level of the Minor Leagues (aided by the fact it’s occasionally touched triple-digits in pro ball). AFL hitters whiffed on 40.6 percent of their swings against the heater. Jacob Misiorowski (40.2 percent) had the highest four-seamer whiff rate (min. 400 four-seamers thrown) in the Majors this season. 

It’s practically a top-of-the-scale fastball with that velocity and movement profile combination, but to generate whiffs, you also have to force swings. With the way Lambert can fly open and miss high and to the armside often, he needed something to bring his focus to the opposite end of the zone. His other slider could be effective -- it had a 47.2 percent whiff rate and .143 average against for Syracuse in ’26 -- with its tighter action, but it only went so far as to make Lambert rethink his ability to land strikes.

That changed with the sweepier breaker. He threw the pitch 16 times, with 10 going for strikes; four of those came on whiffs against six total swings, thanks to the change of pace and direction.

“It's a feel pitch for me,” Lambert said. “It comes off my fastball pretty dang good.”

The former Missouri State and Oklahoma collegian will have more than his mechanics and control numbers to focus on heading into 2027. He admitted he tried to pitch despite his arm pain this summer in pursuit of his first MLB chance, only to spend nine weeks on the injured list over two separate stints.

“You never feel right as a pitcher, like 100 percent,” he said. “So I thought I could just push through it and be fine, but it wasn't one of those injuries. It's a learning moment for me to know the difference between what is manageable and what is needing more attention.”

Lambert will go into his second straight offseason with an eye on Queens, but after missing out in 2026, he’s hoping to be more in control this time of, well, everything.

“I'm going to approach it a little more chill and not try to ramp it up too soon,” he said. “I've definitely learned a lot. I'm going to focus on getting in zone and not so much on the stuff and velocity because I know that I'll have that during the season. I don't need to worry about that too much during the offseason.”