Oakland Ballers add former Cincinnati Reds farmhand
The Oakland Ballers (a.k.a. B's) have a few spots left to fill on their roster ahead of the April 6 open tryout in Oakland, so it should come as no surprise that they recently signed former Cincinnati Reds farmhand Carson Lambert.
The Reds signed Lambert last season after he went undrafted and had him pitch at the Arizona Complex League. He tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowed four hits and two runs (no earned runs), walked one, and struck out seven before getting released by the team.
In this video from a couple of years ago, it appears as though Lambert has three to four pitches that he's working with and that his heater is sitting 90-91.
The 24-year-old right-hander started his college career at USC, and in 2022 he tossed 54 2/3 innings and held a 3.62 ERA with a 1.043 WHIP. Lambert also struck out 58 and walked just 11 that season.
For the 2023 campaign, he transferred to Texas A&M for his final year where he struggled a bit more. In 20 2/3 innings he held a 7.84 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. A big contributing factor here looks to have been his walk rate. In more than 30 fewer innings with A&M in '23 than USC in '22, he walked the same number of guys (11). He gave up hits at a slightly higher rate, but it was the walks that did him in.
From there, he went to pitch in the Draft League where his ERA dropped to 5.17 as his walk rate went from 4.8 per nine with A&M to 2.9 per nine. He then went on to sign with the Reds and posted those six scoreless innings in the Complex League.
In our chat with Ballers EVP Don Wakamatsu earlier this week, he mentioned that it's tough to scout pitchers at the Pioneer League level without relying a bit on the stat line. Lambert's has been all over the place, but he has shown flashes of pretty solid command, so hopefully that'll translate into success with the Ballers.
For those interested in trying out to be a member of the Oakland Ballers, you can sign up here. The team's entire coaching staff will be on hand to scout for talent on April 6.