Mets’ Ryan Lambert is the talk of training camp with triple-digit heat: ‘He could be special’

The kid was an afterthought on draft night. That’s how this works sometimes. Everyone argued about first-round ceilings and bonus pools while the New York Mets quietly grabbed a reliever in the eighth round who now looks like he might crash the big-league bullpen before half that class even sniffs Double-A.

Prospects with helium don’t always announce themselves politely

Ryan Lambert isn’t the polished, top-of-the-rotation fantasy type scouts love to project three years down the road. He’s something far more dangerous to roster battles: a relief arm that already looks finished. Short path, big velocity, zero fear of the zone. That plays right now.

In Port St. Lucie, where hype usually floats around like humid air and disappears just as fast, Lambert’s stuff hasn’t faded after the first look. Coaches saw an upper-90s heat that jumps, a slider that bites late, and the kind of strike-throwing confidence that screams bullpen weapon. You don’t need a scouting report to see it. The ball just sounds different off his hand.

His Grapefruit League debut against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday didn’t feel like a nervous prospect’s first outing. One inning. Three strikeouts. A soft single that barely counted as contact. That’s not a debut, that’s a warning shot.

This isn’t a fluke — the numbers already told the story

Between High-A and Double-A last season, Lambert threw 50 innings, struck out 81 hitters, and posted a 1.62 ERA. That’s not dominance. That’s abuse. Minor-league hitters weren’t solving him; they were surviving him.

Strikeout rates like that from a reliever who fills the zone usually translate. The modern game practically begs for this profile — short bursts, swing-and-miss stuff, and no patience for nibbling. Teams don’t develop these arms slowly anymore. They fast-track them because the bullpen is always hungry.

Manager Carlos Mendoza didn’t exactly try to keep the excitement under wraps either. After watching the right-hander light up radar guns on the back fields, Mendoza told SNY, “I’m telling the guys to make sure you pace yourself. Here he is throwing 99-100 mph on a backfield. So much for pacing yourself. Electric. He throws strikes; he could be special.”

Bullpen spots aren’t won on résumés — they’re stolen with stuff

The Mets don’t need Lambert to be a future closer. They just need him to be one of their best eight relievers right now. That bar isn’t as high as people think, especially for a power arm that throws strikes and doesn’t scare easily.

Relievers jump levels faster than any other player type, and every season produces one spring-training surprise who forces a front office to stop pretending service-time math matters. Lambert feels like that guy. The kind who shows up throwing bowling balls and leaves the team no choice.

Maybe he opens in Triple-A for a few weeks. Fine. That’s logistics, not evaluation. Arms like this don’t stay parked in Syracuse long.

The Mets didn’t just draft organizational depth in the eighth round. They might’ve drafted a bullpen piece who’s about to show up ahead of schedule — loud fastball, fearless approach, and zero interest in waiting his turn.