Nate Lavender didn’t enter the Mets’ organization with a ton of fanfare. He was drafted out of the University of Illinois in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB Draft and didn’t possess eye-popping velocity like some of his peers. Over the next two years, Lavender soared through the Mets’ farm system, working exclusively as a reliever and racking up huge strikeout numbers.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Lavender looked like a candidate to make the major league roster, but his progress came to a screeching halt when he needed to undergo internal brace surgery for his elbow that spring. The Rays selected him from the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft after the season, but he missed the entire 2025 season recovering from the surgery, and the Rays returned him to New York in the offseason. After a solid showing with Triple-A Syracuse, Lavender was called up to make his big-league debut, and he has flourished in the new-look Mets bullpen.
Lavender entered Wednesday’s game against the Padres in relief of Jonathan Pintaro with none out and the tying run on second base in the sixth inning. The southpaw made quick work of Jackson Merrill, striking him out on three pitches. He then dispatched Luis Rengifo on four pitches, throwing him nothing but fastballs. Lavender finished off the inning by getting Luis Campusano to ground out to Francisco Lindor, stranding the tying run in scoring position. The 26-year-old earned his first major league win as the Mets held on for a 4-2 victory.
Across his seven major league appearances, Lavender has thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings and racked up eight strikeouts while allowing just one hit and two walks. He still doesn’t throw particularly hard, with his fastball averaging 92.7 mph, but he uses it for over 60 percent of his pitches and has recorded a 44% whiff rate thanks to his 7.1 feet of extension. Lavender has excelled at limiting hard contact, giving up a hard-hit rate of just 36.4%. With the way he’s pitching, Lavender is playing himself into the Mets’ future plans, just like the team expected him to back in 2024.
