BSN Exclusive: Rox top pitching prospect blazing trail to MLB

HARTFORD, CT – Peter Lambert’s start on Wednesday might not have been as good as his string of five straight starts pitching seven or more innings while surrendering just one earned run, but it was impressive nonetheless.

In his first game as a member of the Albuquerque Isotopes, the 21-year-old gave up two earned runs while scattering seven hits, walking none and striking out two during six innings of work.

He did this on one of the grandest stages at the Triple-A level: 4th of July Fireworks Night. In front of 15,652 fans in a packed Isotopes Park—higher attendance than two major league teams on Independence Day—Lambert was steady once again.

As the youngest pitcher in the entire Eastern League, Lambert led the league in ERA (2.23), innings pitched (92.2), WHIP (0.99), fewest walks per nine (1.17), and fewest baserunners per nine (9.23) at the time of his promotion.

He was named the Eastern League Player of the Month for June after going 5-0 with 1.16 ERA  and little else to prove at the Double-A level with the Hartford Yard Goats.

Warren Schaeffer, manager of Hartford, was glowing about the young hurler just before his final start as a Yard Goat.

“It’s incredible. He’s been fantastic. He’s so solid,” he said. “You know what you’re going to get every time out. You pretty much know you’re going to get a win every time out. You’ve got a good shot at it, at least. Everybody on the team feels it and it energizes the whole team. He competes with the best of them. He pounds the bottom of the zone. He uses all pitches for strikes. He’s beyond his years.”

Now in a league that favors hitters and features ballparks with twice the capacity of what Lambert experienced in at Double-A, Lambert is prepared for this next step in the Pacific Coast League.

But he’s been through the past two seasons during his time in the California League in 2017 and at his home ballpark of McCormick Field in Asheville the year prior.

“I heard all about those ballparks going into those years,” Lambert told BSN Denver. “The most important thing for me was not trying to do something that wasn’t me. Just to be myself and to continue to pitch the way I know how to pitch and not try to change because of the ballpark.”

The former UCLA commit has also been incredibly durable. He’s increased his innings pitched every year and is on pace to throw about 180 innings in 2018. It’s helped that he’s yet to have hit the disabled list and the recipe for this durability is simple, according to him.

“I take a lot of pride in arm maintenance on the daily,” he said. “In the offseason, taking some time off and having a good throwing program going into the year.”

Schaeffer feels that this level of consistency and growth is what sets Lambert apart from his peers.

“He’s really turned it up a notch. He’s always a competitor. I never see anything different out of him. He’s just the same game every time. You never see that anymore, especially with the young kids.”

Lambert attributes some of this polish to his older brother, Jimmy, who pitched in Division I with Fresno State and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox organization.

“It was good getting to see him and the way he went about his business at the higher level when he was in college and I was in high school,” he said. 

Considering that the number one overall pick in this year’s draft, Auburn starting pitcher Casey Mize, is just thirteen days younger than Lambert, Colorado has developed a special player, one that could be in the majors before too long.