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Mets' Pitching Prospects Lambert, Cota Selected For AFL Fall Stars Game
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- Mets' Pitching Prospects Lambert, Cota Selected For AFL Fall Stars Game
Baseball fans will often hyperbolically say that a pitcher is "unhittable." In regards to New York Mets ' pitching prospect Ryan Lambert and his performance in the Arizona Fall League, that is actually true.
In six appearances through Nov. 3 for the Surprise Saguaros, Lambert has thrown six innings and has yet to allow a hit.
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This makes him one of only two of the 154 pitchers in the AFL who have made an appearance this season who can claim that, though the other one who has yet to give up a hit has thrown only 0.2 innings and allowed an earned run courtesy of three walks and a hit batter.
In addition to his sterling .000 batting average against, Lambert has piled up 10 strikeouts to four walks for a 0.67 WHIP that is second in the league.
All of that made him an obvious choice for selection to the National League team for Sunday's AFL Fall Stars Game, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on the MLB Network.
Lambert, who the Mets selected in the eighth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of the University of Oklahoma, has moved quickly through the system, though he did experience some rough times at Triple-A Syracuse this season.
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In 28 games, all in relief, he threw 25.2 innings and allowed 22 earned runs for a 7.71 ERA. While he allowed only 21 hits, the culprit was the 28 walks he issued for a concerning walk rate of 9.8 per nine innings. That more than offset the 11.2 strikeout rate he had courtesy of 32 whiffs in those 25.2 innings.
While Lambert's 6.0 walks per nine for Surprise is still not ideal, it's at least trending downward, while his K/9 rate has risen to 15.0.
Another Mets' pitching prospect who has been making life difficult for hitters in the AFL is Irving Cota, who was also selected for the 10-man NL pitching staff in the Fall Stars Game.
In five games for Surprise, which stood tied for first with Peoria in the AFL standings with a 14-9 record after the games of Nov. 3, Cota was ninth of 154 pitchers with a 0.87 WHIP and tied for 13th with 15 strikeouts over 12.2 innings pitched with only three walks and six earned runs allowed for an ERA of 4.26.
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Cota's top-notch AFL performance is welcome news as he was limited to a combined 10 appearances in 2026 between Single-A St. Lucie, High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. In 31.1 innings, he did post a 2.30 ERA with 21 strikeouts and six walks.
The All-Star-worthy mound performances of Lambert and Cota lend hope that the Mets' traditionally strong pitching pipeline will remain fruitful, especially after the performances of rookies Nolan McLean , Christian Scott and Zac Thornton at the major-league level this season.
