Lambert turns in solid start to open series in Miami: 'It felt good'

MIAMI -- Different.

Rockies manager Bud Black described right-hander Peter Lambert as looking “different” in his three-inning spot start against the Tigers at home on July 1. The word came up in scouting reports from his two subsequent pitch count-building starts in Albuquerque.

After Lambert’s five scoreless innings with three hits in his return to the rotation -- a 6-1 victory over the Marlins, who have lost seven straight -- Rockies catcher Elias Díaz used the magic word.

“I don’t know what adjustments he made, but he was completely different,” said Díaz, who homered -- as did C.J. Cron and Jurickson Profar.

• Concepción pays fellow Venezuelan ASG MVP Díaz a visit

But is Lambert, 26, different?

Or is he returning to who he was when he debuted? A second-round pick in 2015 out of San Dimas (Calif.) High School, Lambert broke in with a seven-inning, nine-strikeout game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 6, 2019.

That was before Tommy John surgery in 2020 and 2 1/2 years of barely pitching. Maybe this season’s 14 relief appearances with a 6.89 ERA were what was “different,” as in part of the process of not just getting back to who he was four years ago, but moving beyond.

“It felt great,” Lambert said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been making starts -- a couple years almost -- consistently. But this is what I want to do. This is what I want to be.”

And Lambert, the way he pitched Friday, is exactly who the Rockies need.

The rotation is depleted, with four starters on the injured list. Two are gone for the season. The Rockies finished their last homestand with just three starters. That has not changed, since struggling rookie righty Connor Seabold went to the bullpen to make way for Lambert -- who needs to be good.

The win statistic may not mean what it did in bygone days, before pitch counts and an exploding bullpen population, but wins mean something when they go missing. Between Kyle Freeland’s “W” on May 14 against the Phillies and Lambert’s on Friday, Austin Gomber’s four victories were the only ones from a Rockies starter.

“I still see that first game in Chicago -- seven-inning gem that he threw,” Black said. “The last couple of years have been tough, injury-wise. But that was a good sign tonight.

“I’m happy for Peter. He’s put in the work. He feels great. We talked after the fifth and he indicated he could keep going. But we’ve got a lot of baseball left, with two-plus months to go, and he’s just getting back on the horse as a starter again in the big leagues.”

After his delightful debut, Lambert scuffled for the rest of 2019 and finished 3-7 with a 7.25 ERA. Lambert showed up to Spring Training in 2020 trying to make the beginning of his delivery more efficient, but soreness early and a ligament blowout right before the pandemic-shortened season ended that work.

Lambert arrived this spring with the cleaner delivery and earned a callup in May. But whether it was the adrenaline that comes with relief work or just the simple learning curve, flaws could be seen at the end of the delivery with the back leg kicking up more violently than usual. That was a sign of trying to be too nasty with his pitches.

But he learned, and it showed Friday.

Lambert walked Luis Arraez to start the first inning, and faced runners at second and third after Jesús Sánchez chopped a double over the head of Cron at first base. But he calmly induced a popout from Bryan De La Cruz. From there he pitched off a well-spotted fastball and mixed all his off-speed pitches, with no sign of jumpiness.

“That first inning ran a little long,” Lambert said. “I walked the leadoff guy, which is never the way you want to start. But I thought even with the walk, with the long first inning, I made a lot of quality pitches. They were just a tick off the plate.

“I didn’t veer away from that going forward. I had a couple quick innings, which lowered the pitch count.”

Lambert being effective and controlled is different from what health has allowed him to be in a long time.

But it’s exactly who he expects to be.