Nate Lavender

Nathan James Lavender (born January 20, 2000) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2026.

Career Lavender attended El Paso–Gridley High School in El Paso, Illinois, and played college baseball at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2019, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 14th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.

Lavender made his professional debut with the Florida Complex League Mets. In 2022, he played for the St. Lucie Mets and Brooklyn Cyclones. He started 2023 with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies before being promoted to the Syracuse Mets.

On May 17, 2024, Lavender underwent a variation of Tommy John surgery in which an internal brace was added to his elbow ligament. He subsequently missed the remainder of the season as a result of the procedure.

On December 11, 2024, Lavender was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays eighth overall in the Rule 5 draft. He missed the entirety of the 2025 season in recovery from surgery. Lavender was designated for assignment by the Rays on November 6, 2025.

On November 12, 2025, Lavender was returned to the Mets organization. On August 4, 2026, Lavender had his contract selected by the Mets. Lavender made his debut that night.