Mets pitching prospect Ryan Lambert found more than another breaking ball in the Arizona Fall League. Bringing back an old sweeper grip helped the right-hander identify a mechanical adjustment as he works toward a major league bullpen opportunity in 2027.
The 24-year-old allowed no hits and struck out 10 of the 22 hitters he faced across six relief innings for Surprise, according to Sam Dykstra’s MLB Pipeline report. He walked four, leaving control an important part of his development despite the strong results. He also pitched a perfect inning in the AFL Championship Game.
An old grip changes his delivery
During live batting practice before the Fall League began, Lambert returned to a sweeper grip he had used at Northern Iowa Community College and in the Northwoods League in 2022. The pitch travels in the low 80s, slower than his harder slider at 87-91 mph.
The sweeper produced 10-17 inches of horizontal movement toward his glove side. Getting the feel for that wider break required Lambert to keep his glove closer to his body, an adjustment he said helped direct his delivery toward the plate across his pitches.
“It feels like my mechanics are more towards the plate,” Lambert told MLB Pipeline.
He threw the sweeper 16 times in Fall League play, with 10 counted as strikes. Hitters swung six times and missed four, giving him another way to change speed and movement alongside his fastball and tighter slider.
Control remains the next step
A right forearm flexor injury limited Lambert to 25 2/3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse during the regular season. He walked 28 batters at that level, more than his innings total.
His Fall League walk rate was 18.2%, compared with 23.2% during a regular season that also included rehabilitation appearances with Single-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn. The fall improvement came in a small sample, but his performance helped earn him a National League Fall Stars roster spot.
Lambert’s fastball typically reaches 96-98 mph and has occasionally reached triple digits in professional baseball. MLB Pipeline described its combination of cutting movement and ride from his nearly overhand delivery as a major strength.
Fall League hitters missed on 40.6% of their swings against the fastball. For comparison, Jacob Misiorowski led major league pitchers at 40.2% among those who threw at least 400 four-seam fastballs during the season, MLB Pipeline reported.
Lambert’s harder slider also produced misses at Syracuse, with a 47.2% whiff rate and a .143 batting average against. But his tendency to open his delivery early and miss high toward his throwing-arm side made consistently locating pitches a separate challenge.
A different approach to the offseason
The Mets selected Lambert in the eighth round of the 2024 draft. The former Missouri State and Oklahoma pitcher is preparing for another offseason with a major league opportunity in mind after injuries interrupted his 2026 pursuit.
Lambert told MLB Pipeline he tried pitching through arm pain during the summer and ultimately spent nine weeks on the injured list across two stints. He said the experience taught him to better recognize which discomfort needs medical attention.
For this offseason, he plans to build up more gradually and emphasize throwing strikes rather than chasing velocity. He expects his pitch quality to return during the season and wants his preparation to put him in a better position to use it.
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