Ryan Lambert News: Flashing elite fastball in camp

Lambert has shown both elite velocity and elite induced vertical break on his four-seam fastball in camp, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

The 23-year-old right-hander has yet to pitch above Double-A, but it may not be long before he's handling high-leverage situations with the Mets. Lambert's fastball can reach triple digits on the radar gun, but it's also averaged between 19 and 20 inches of induced vertical break, which measures how much carry a ball up in the zone appears to have. The only two MLB pitchers who averaged better than 97 mph and more than 19 inches of carry with their four-seamers in 2025 were Brewers closer Trevor Megill, who posted a 2.49 ERA and 31.3 percent strikeout rate, and Padres setup man Jeremiah Estrada, who delivered a 3.45 ERA and 35.5 percent strikeout rate. For his part, Lambert fired up a 1.62 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 81:17 K:BB over 50 innings between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton last season.