The 27-year-old couldn’t make his starts count, but did well in the bullpen
Welcome to the 2024 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2024. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
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No. 41, Peter Lambert, -0.5 rWAR
Peter Lambert’s MLB career hasn’t gone as planned and 2024 continued that trend.
After debuting with promise in 2019, Lambert was set back with Tommy John surgery in 2020 and a longer-than-expected recovery that only saw him make 11 Minor League appearances in 2021 and 2022.
When he finally returned to the Rockies in 2023, he had flashes of the potential that made him the Rockies second-round pick in 2015. While going back and forth from Triple-A Albuquerque and the MLB roster, he performed well in the bullpen and in some spot starts when the injury-plagued rotation needed a new arm.
He finished the season with a 5.36 ERA, a 3-7 record and 71 strikeouts compared to just 28 walks in 87 1/3 innings over 25 appearances (11 starts). He posted a 0.5 rWAR, landing him at No. 16 in our Ranking the Rockies series. Things were looking good until right biceps tendonitis landed Lambert on the 15-day IL in mid-September, cutting his season a few weeks short.
In 2024, the 27-year-old righty started off strong. In his first six relief appearances through mid-April, he went 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA and the Rockies went 4-2. Lambert then made three starts in his next four appearances, giving up 17 runs in 12 innings for a 12.75 ERA. He never pitched more than 3 1/3 innings in each start. Despite decent success in his 11 starts in 2023, the three rough outings from April 21 to May 8 in 2024 marked an end to Lambert’s place in the rotation.
He moved to the bullpen and made five appearances, posting a 3.24 ERA and 0-2 record before being optioned to the Isotopes on June 3. While in Albuquerque, Lambert made four starts, giving up eight runs in 16 innings.
Lambert was called back up to the Rockies on July 3 and did well in long relief against the Brewers. He threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and only gave up two hits. Then in his next four appearances, he gave up seven runs in nine innings. His results fluctuated throughout his 13 appearances in July and August before Lambert was sent back down to the Isotopes on August 26.
He finished his Isotope season with a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings in 10 appearances. After his failed audition in the rotation, Lambert posted a 4.54 ERA in 18 appearances, going 0-3 with 30 strikeouts and 20 walks in 37 2/3 innings. Overall for Colorado, Lambert posted a 5.72 ERA in 28 appearances with a 2-5 record. The Rockies went 9-19 when Lambert pitched.
The Rockies need dependable starters and relievers. The starters posted the worst ERA in MLB at 5.54 and the relievers were the worst at 5.41. Lambert wants to be a starter and has a high ceiling if he can be more reliable and manage challenging situations. He has two more years under team control before he’s set to be a free agent in 2027.
There is still time for Lambert to become a valuable pitcher, but he will need to prove his worth via consistency sooner than later.
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