Mets prospect watch, June 26: Ryan Clifford and Ryan Lambert continue to struggle at the plate

What happened in Mets farm action on June 25, according to a Mets Daily Prospect Report published June 26, was less about standout breakthroughs and more about unfinished business. The roundup’s main through-line was that, at least in the games covered, there was not much “exciting” to spotlight. It instead focused on two hitters whose offensive production has been an ongoing storyline: Ryan Clifford and Ryan Lambert.

The report singled out Clifford as still not really hitting. The wording matters because it frames the issue as persistent rather than a one-day slump. For a prospect, the gap between tools and consistent results is often measured in weeks, not hours, and daily prospect coverage tends to document whether early-season indicates are holding up or fading.

Lambert, likewise, was described as still struggling. The use of the same phrasing for a second player reinforces that the day’s watch list, while featuring names the organization tracks closely, did not produce a clear “turn the corner” moment. Instead, the takeaway was that at least some parts of the player-development pipeline remain stuck in neutral when the lineup sheets need offense most.

This kind of reporting is common in the minor leagues because it fills a specific niche for fans: a quick, sport-specific recap that emphasizes development trends over box-score celebration. In the Mets system, that matters because the club’s near-term roster needs are tied to how quickly and reliably prospects translate talent into production as they move up levels.

Clifford and Lambert are being viewed through an offensive lens in this roundup, which is typical for position players as they climb. Even when a player profiles well defensively, the organization’s internal question is usually whether the bat can handle the pace, pitch quality, and game planning that come with higher competition. When a report repeatedly flags “not hitting” or “still struggling,” it suggests those questions have not yet received a clean answer from recent at-bats.

The absence of a longer list of positives also implies that the day’s games did not offer many other dramatic markers worth centering. Prospect pages and daily minor-league recaps tend to prioritize either a standout performance or a meaningful trend, and this one leaned toward the latter, with two ongoing questions dominating the narrative.

What to watch next is straightforward. If Clifford’s offensive output begins to stabilize, future reports may shift from describing prolonged difficulty to describing incremental improvements. The same goes for Lambert. In prospect development, small changes can come before breakout numbers: better contact rates, more patient at-bats, or stronger run production against the same opposition. This report suggests that those improvements are still pending as of June 26.

Beyond these two names, the bigger picture for Mets farm followers is how long development can remain “under evaluation” before it demands either adjustment or escalation. Daily reports do not decide promotions or roster decisions by themselves, but they often mirror the questions that decision-makers are asking inside the organization. The next Mets Daily Prospect Report will be a useful check on whether June 25 reads as a temporary dip or continued friction for the organization’s hitters in the system.