NY Mets history as a chance to repeat itself in the bullpen two years later

The New York Mets won’t have Dedniel Nunez for at least a couple months, if not all of 2026. A surprising addition to the club’s 2024 bullpen, Nunez is a two-time recipient of Tommy John surgery. In recovery mode yet again, injuries have regularly gotten in the way of his progress.

Nunez pitched to a 2.31 ERA in 2024 with 48 strikeouts in 35 innings at the major league level. He became one of those arms few knew about that became a permanent fixture in relief. At last, the Mets had homegrown talent out of the bullpen we could rely on.A season-ending injury had the Mets slow-playing him and eventually demoting him to begin the 2025 campaign. He pitched only 9.2 MLB innings last year before TJS decided to return.

His story feels unique because of how he ended up back with the Mets. A Rule 5 Draft pick by the San Francisco Giants on December 10, 2020, after his first TJS, he was returned to the Mets following the 2021 season after never pitching. This is the same exact story with a fella at Mets camp, Nate Lavender.

Nate Lavender is following the unique Dedniel Nunez journey back into consideration

Lavender went to the Tampa Bay Rays ahead of the 2025 season in the Rule 5 Draft while, you guessed it, recuperating from TJS. He never pitched for the Rays. As the Rule 5 Draft rules state, just because you miss a year doesn’t mean you can skip over getting locked onto someone’s active roster. The Rays, rather than actually take a gaze at Lavender in spring training, returned him to the Mets in November.

It took Nunez a while before the Mets felt they could consider him for the big leagues. He was a starter at the time of his first TJS, converting to a relief role after coming back to the Mets. Lavender is way further ahead of schedule as a reliever, already accustomed to the different workload. Nunez hadn’t even made it past Single-A upon his Mets return. Lavender has pitched well in Triple-A. He had a 3.27 ERA in 44 innings back in 2024 for Syracuse.

Nunez didn’t debut until his age 28 season. Lavender will play this entire year at 26. He’s light years ahead of schedule in comparison. The fact that he’s a lefty should better his chances further.

It doesn’t have to take Lavender too long to make it to the big leagues. While they conceivably have an open spot for a lefty to begin the year while A.J. Minter is out, one would expect the Mets to take it easy with Lavender who has the control and minor league options to be more of a long-term choice than a flash in the pan. Selected in the 14th round of the increasingly volatile 2021 Mets draft where only Christian Scott remains as a player who has a trajectory going in the right direction, he’ll be one to watch with a special yet not entirely patented story on how he got here.