dailyloe.com – The Houston Astros will start right-hander Peter Lambert on Friday. Chandler Rome of The Athletic relayed this update. Lambert is not currently on the roster. He will need to be formally added before the game.
This is an early birthday present for Lambert. He turns 29 on Saturday. He will make his first major league appearance for a team other than the Rockies. Lambert made 74 appearances for Colorado from 2019 to 2024.
He threw 243 and two-thirds innings for the Rockies. He allowed 6.28 earned runs per nine. The Rockies outrighted Lambert off their roster after the 2024 season. He then elected free agency.
Lambert signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He gave the Swallows 116 and one-third innings over 21 starts. He posted a 4.26 earned run average with the Swallows.
That may seem like a passable mark. NPB has been a pitcher-friendly league in recent years. Last year’s league-wide ERA was 2.97 in the Central League. It was 3.04 in the Pacific League.
Lambert landed a minor league deal with the Astros in November. He opted out of that deal at the end of camp. He then re-signed on a fresh minor league deal.
He has thrown 14 and two-thirds Triple-A innings this year. He made three appearances at that level. He allowed three earned runs via 11 hits and three walks.
He also hit two batters while striking out 12. His 20.3% strikeout rate is subpar in that small sample. His 5.1% walk rate is a strong figure. His 53.7% ground ball rate is also strong.
His four-seam fastball has averaged 94.5 miles per hour this year. He has also thrown a sinker and a cutter. He uses a slider, curveball, and changeup as well.
The Astros have been improvising on their pitching staff lately. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier both landed on the injured list. They have shoulder strains.
Not long after, Tatsuya Imai hit the IL due to arm fatigue. Houston quickly lost three fifths of its Opening Day rotation. That forced them to turn to contingency plans.
One of those contingency plans also got injured. Back inflammation put Cody Bolton on the injured list. There is never a good time for a team to lose four starters.
The timing was especially unfortunate in this case. The Astros began a stretch of 13 straight games last Friday. Imai started the first game of that stretch.
He lasted just one third of an inning. That forced J.P. France and others to soak up the rest. Lance McCullers Jr. and Mike Burrows are still around from the season-opening group.
McCullers took the ball on Saturday. Burrows pitched on Sunday. Bolton went on Monday but landed on the injured list. This series of injuries led to the call for Peter Lambert.
