Left-handed pitcher Nate Lavender may not be on the New York Mets’ MLB top 30 prospects watch list at the moment. But he continues to trend upward, even though he does not own that blazing fastball that has enamored most baseball scouts these days.
It does not matter, though, as Lavender struck out the side in his first outing of spring training against the St. Louis Cardinals, a 10-5 defeat in game one of spring training.
The 24-year-old “gets far down the hill with his stride,” Gary Cohen said of Lavender’s delivery on SNY’s telecast Saturday afternoon, making his heat approach the hitter quicker than most batters realize.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Lavender chalked up his success to throwing 92 M.P.H. with a measure of purpose, not to mention good movement and location.
“There’s will behind it,” Lavender said in post-game interview. “If you throw 92 with a little doubt in there, it’s probably gonna get hit pretty hard. If you throw 92 with some grit and some intention behind it, you’re gonna be alright.”
Lavende’s past stats backs up his mindset. He posted a 4-3 record with a 2.98 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 54.1 innings of work in 42 games between the two stops — Binghamton (AA) and Syracuse (AAA) — in 2023.
Additionally, he went 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 37 strikeouts to 15 walks in 29.0 frames in 16 contests with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones in the 2022 campaign.
The Mets selected Lavender in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft out of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
— Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 