The 2021 Chicago White Sox was a very fun team to watch. They had tons of great pitching and plenty of great moments offensively. On the pitching side of things, there were Cy Young candidates, All-Stars, an outstanding rotation, and an awesome bullpen to round out an A+ pitching staff. There was also a little bit of “seeing what they have” in certain arms at different points.
One of those players was Jimmy Lambert. He made three starts and had four appearances. He had a 1-1 record which is fine but his other numbers aren’t great. He had a 6.23 ERA and 1.692 WHIP which aren’t great but he had some moments where he looked good.
Lambert had 10 strikeouts in the small sample size of 13 innings in those four games. As inflated as the numbers are, he really only made a few spot starts and had a limited amount of innings in the MLB. His numbers with AAA Charlotte were obviously better but he still needs work as well.
He has shown that if he is ever going to be a full-time Major League player, he has a lot more development to go. The White Sox are in a win-now mode so it might be a while before that becomes a reality (if ever) but he was there for them when needed in 2021.
Jimmy Lambert has an interesting future with the Chicago White Sox organization.
2021 Final Grade: D+
Jimmy Lambert gets a D+. It could be a C but he wasn’t good enough in AAA to warrant a C. He wasn’t in the best spot in terms of his MLB chances to succeed but he made the best of it. There were a couple of times where he was fine but they need more from him if he is going to stick around and make an MLB career.
2022 Expectations:
Jimmy Lambert probably won’t pitch much for the White Sox in 2022. They are very deep at the position and are looking for even more talent on the free-agent market. There isn’t room for middling pitching prospects that are still trying to develop their game. He has the talent but he hasn’t put it together yet.
He is also the type of prospect who might find their name as a throw-in for big-time MLB trades. For a rebuilding team, he is a great arm to add because you can be patient with him as you see if he will ever become something. Unfortunately, that may never come as a member of the White Sox but you also never know what can happen.