Lavender was poached from the Mets by the Rays in this offseason's Rule 5 draft. Lavender had the internal brace procedure in May of 2024, and the Rays will likely maximize his recovery and rehab time before activating him from the injured list sometime this summer. He's heading into his age-25 season and has a career 3.35 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 76:30 K:BB in 51 innings (40 appearances) at Triple-A. Once healthy, he should work in low-leverage situations, but if his control improves, he could slowly work his way up the bullpen hierarchy. Read Past Outlooks