Chris Lambert
From BR Bullpen
Christopher Raymond Lambert
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.
- School Boston College
- High School Manchester Memorial High School
- Debut August 26, 2008
- Born March 8, 1983 in Burlingame, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Pitcher Chris Lambert was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft. He was a Big East Conference All-Conference pick as a freshman, when he won both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors. He went 9-3 with 87 K in 78 innings (51 walks, though) and a conference-best 2.76 ERA. Baseball America named him as a first-team freshman All-American, joining Philip Humber, Justin Verlander, Huston Street and Matt Durkin as the pitchers.
He was 8-2 with a 2.71 ERA in his sophomore seasons, striking out 88 and walking 38 in 80 innings and again making the All-Conference team. In '04, Lambert went 6-4, 3.02 for Boston College and led the Big East with 107 strikeouts (a school record) in 92 innings. He again was an All-Conference pick and split Pitcher of the Year honors with Pitt's Nick Evangelista. Overall, his 282 strikeouts and 2.84 ERA were school records. He was the 19th overall pick in the 2004 amateur draft, going to the St. Louis Cardinals with their first selection and signing for a $1,525,000 bonus. It was the highest pick ever by a BCU alumnus.
Initially assigned to the Peoria Chiefs, Chris went 1-1 with a 2.58 ERA, 46 K and 24 BB in 38 1/3 innings. In 2005, he was 7-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 10 starts for the Palm Beach Cardinals but slipped with the Springfield Cardinals, going 3-8 with a 6.35 ERA and 1.71 WHIP. He pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning for the US in the 2005 Futures Game.
In 2006, the 23-year-old hurler went 10-9, 5.30 for Springfield and 0-1, 6.75 in one outing for the Memphis Redbirds.
On August 30, 2007 the St. Louis Cardinals sent Chris Lambert to the Detroit Tigers to complete a trade for Mike Maroth. One year later almost to the day, he made his major league debut with the Tigers, in a losing start against the Cleveland Indians.
Sources: 2003-2006 Baseball Almanacs, Minorleaguebaseball.com
