James Michael Lambert (born November 18, 1994) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB).

Amateur career

Lambert attended

San Dimas High School San Dimas High School is a secondary school located in San Dimas, California, in the United States. It is part of the Bonita Unified School District. Most of the students come from Lone Hill Middle School which shares the same city block as the ...

San Dimas, California San Dimas ( Spanish for " Saint Dismas") is a city in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 34,924. It historically took its name from San Dimas Canyon in the San Gabri ...

. As a senior, he compiled a 13-1 record with a 1.18 ERA, striking out 80 batters in 94 innings. He was not drafted out of high school in the

2013 MLB draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

and enrolled at

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bac ...

where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a m ...

. As a sophomore at Fresno State in 2015, he posted a 4-2 record and a 4.66 ERA in 17 games (13 starts). In 2016, as a junior at Fresno State, he was named the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

Co-Pitcher of the Year (alongside Griffin Jax) after compiling an 8-0 record and a 2.65 ERA in ten conference starts. He finished with an overall record of 10-2 with a 3.13 ERA over 15 games as a starter. After his junior year, he was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...

and he signed for $325,000.

Professional career

After signing, Lambert made his professional debut with the

AZL White Sox The Arizona Complex League White Sox are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. The team is compos ...

, and he was promoted to the

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. T ...

during the season. In 15 games (13 starts) between the two clubs, he was 1-6 with a 5.26 ERA. Lambert began 2017 with Kannapolis, and after going 7-2 with a 2.19 ERA in 12 starts, earning him a

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

All Star selection, he was promoted to the

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games a ...

in June. He finished the season with Winston-Salem, pitching to a 5-4 record with a 5.45 ERA in 14 starts. In 2018, he began the year with Winston-Salem, and after going 5-7 with a 3.95 ERA in 13 starts, he was promoted to the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

. In five starts for Birmingham, he was 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA. He returned to Birmingham in 2019, going 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA over 11 starts. Lambert was added to the White Sox 40–man roster following the 2019 season. Lambert made his MLB debut on July 25, 2020 against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

Guaranteed Rate Field Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and is owned by the state ...

. He successfully got 3 outs in the 9th inning and closed out the win for the Sox. Lambert would only appear in one more game after his debut as he missed the rest of the season with a right forearm strain.

Personal life

Lambert's brother is Peter Lambert, who is also a professional baseball player and currently pitches for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Jimmy 1994 births Living people People from Arcadia, California Baseball players from California Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago White Sox players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Arizona League White Sox players Kannapolis Intimidators players Winston-Salem Dash players Birmingham Barons players