Peter

Lambert

Lambert stranded the bases loaded in the second and kept the A’s scoreless until the sixth, when he gave up a Brent Rooker homer, a walk and then a double with one out. Enyel De Los Santos entered and retired Zack Gelof and Jeff McNeil to strand both inherited runners. It went as Lambert’s third straight win, even though he’s walked 11 over 15 1/3 innings during the span. He’s 5-4 with a 3.55 ERA in nine starts overall. The big thing that he has in his corner is that he’s allowed just three homers in 50 2/3 innings, but he’s not a strong groundball pitcher and his walk rate is an increasing concern. Those relying on him in mixed leagues can feel free to use him against the Angels next week, but it’s still not rather likely that he’ll be a long-term solution.

Lambert allowed five hits, walked three and struck out three with his velocity down a tad today. He has a 5.63 ERA and a 14/9 K/BB over 16 innings in his last three starts, though he’s won two of those anyway. He’s still securely in Houston’s rotation, and he’ll likely make his next start Friday at home against the A’s.

Lambert allowed five hits, walked four and struck out five in an erratic outing. He also hit a batter. This makes him 3-4 with a 3.79 ERA through seven starts. That he’s allowed only one homer in 40 1/3 innings has made him a viable fantasy starter to date, but his luck figures to change some there. He’s due to pitch at home against the Brewers next weekend.

Lambert’s latest quality start featured six strikeouts and one walk, but it’s a little concerning that his velocity was down; he averaged 93.5 mph with his fastball, 1.2 mph off his season average. He’d already gone from 95.3 and 95.1 mph in his first two starts to 94.3 and 94.4 mph in his previous two starts, so this is looking like a trend. He’s not a bad play this weekend against the Rangers, but this doesn’t really seem like the time to go pick him up.

Lambert gave up 10 hard-hit balls and had just a 17 percent CSW tonight, but these aren’t the 2025 Dodgers, at least not right now. Lambert moved to 2-2 with a 2.42 ERA. He’s gone 22 1/3 innings without allowing a homer this year, which is pretty good for someone who gave up one every 5.4 innings in 35 starts and 39 relief appearances with the Rockies. He’ll probably make his next start Monday against the Mariners, though the Astros do have the option of moving him up to Sunday in Cincinnati.

Lambert had been solid through four innings, but his pitch count was at 91 and Joe Espada showed a quick hook in the top of the fifth after a one-out double. Steven Okert came on and allowed a single and a walk before Adley Rutschman hit a grand slam to break the game open, charging one additional run to Lambert’s ledger. Lambert’s only pitch that generated more than two whiffs was his changeup, and while this has been a fun ride so far, this wasn’t up to the standard of his first couple of starts. Fantasy managers will want to avoid Lambert against the Dodgers next week.

Lambert had the Guardians befuddled in his second start as an Astro. He got 16 whiffs on 45 swings and allowed just three hard-hit balls. While he gave up four runs in his previous outing against St. Louis, he’s fanned eight in both of his starts, matching his career total of eight-strikeout games from his parts of four seasons with the Rockies. He seems to be doing a good job of keeping the fastball up in the zone, with a changeup that missed plenty of bats in his first start and a cutter he turned to more often here. It’s unclear if this type of production will stick, but the Astros have been known to do more with less. Lambert will face the Orioles next week, and he might be worth a stream.

Lambert, who was called up to make the start on Friday, surprised with eight strikeouts, tying for the second-most strikeouts in his career. Lambert ran into trouble early in this one. The righty allowed three of the first four batters he faced to reach base, with an RBI single by Jordan Walker giving the Cardinals their first run on the day. After escaping the second inning unscathed, Lambert hit back-to-back batters to start the third inning, and then walked Alec Burleson to load the bases with no outs. He would then fire back-to-back strikeouts but was tagged for two more runs courtesy of an RBI single by Masyn Winn. He would pitch a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth to close out what was an up-and-down night in his first big league appearance since 2024. If he gets the nod again, Lambert will be on track to start on Wednesday at the Guardians.

Lambert had a 3.98 ERA in 124 1/3 innings with the Yakult Swallows in NPB last year, and had worked two impressive starts with the Space Cowboys to the tune of a 3.84 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings early in the season. He’ll get the start for the Astros tonight against the Cardinals. He’s not a recommended streamer at this time.

The Astros brought Lambert in on a minor league contract early this offseason after he returned from a year with the Yakyult Swallows of Japan. Since signing him, the Astros did a lot of beef up their starting pitching depth and wound up cutting Lambert loose after he didn’t make the big league club out of spring training. Now, he’s back and will report to Triple-A as organizational depth.