Mets To Select Cristian Pache, Nate Lavender

The Mets have a number of roster spots open after their deadline selling. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that outfielder Cristian Pache and pitchers Dedniel Núñez, Jefry Yan, Nate Lavender, Chayce McDermott and Xzavion Curry will be filling those roster spots. Pache and Lavender will need to be selected to the 40-man roster. Núñez is on the 60-day injured list, so he will need a 40-man spot as well. Yan, McDermott and Curry are already on the 40-man and will be recalled. The Mets currently have four 40-man vacancies, so there’s no need for a corresponding move to add three guys today. There are five vacancies on the active roster, so one player may be optioned to make room for these six additions. MLBTR previously covered Yan’s first MLB promotion.

Pache, 27, is a dynamic athlete and was once one of the top prospects in baseball. Unfortunately, he could never really hit in the majors or even at the Triple-A level. That has resulted in him bouncing around the league as a glove-first depth outfielder.

The Mets signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason. He has stepped to the plate 355 times for Triple-A Syracuse this year with a .232/.289/.356 line. His 5.6% walk rate and 31.8% strikeout rate are both poor numbers. He now has a .250/.321/.386 line at Triple-A over six different seasons. His major league line is .181/.243/.275 in 610 plate appearances.

He should be useful in the other aspects of his game. When he was last in the majors in 2024, his sprint speed was ranked in the 80th percentile of qualified big leaguers by Statcast. He has 16 stolen bases in the minors this year, getting caught just three times. His defensive metrics have always been strong. In 1503 1/3 innings on the grass, he has been credited with eight Defensive Runs Saved and 15 Outs Above Average. He can give the Mets a speed-and-defense option off the bench, serving as a pinch-runner or late-game defensive replacement.

Lavender, 26, will be making his major league debut when he gets into a game but this won’t be his first time on a 40-man roster. The Rays selected him in the Rule 5 draft in November of 2024. He had undergone UCL surgery in May of that year and was going to be recovering for the early parts of 2025, but Tampa took a shot on him anyway. He didn’t pitch in any official capacity last year and was given back to the Mets after the season.

This year, he ramped up at the lower levels before reporting to Triple-A in May. He has thrown 43 innings at the top minor league level this year, allowing 3.77 earned runs per nine. His .354 batting average on balls in play is quite high, so he probably deserves even better. He has struck out a massive 40.2% of betters faced this year, while his 9.2% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate are fairly average.

The Mets are playing out the string on a lost season but they can see how Lavender’s stuff plays against big league hitters. He still has a full slate of options and can be easily sent back to Triple-A if he doesn’t find immediate success. He already has a year of service time from spending last year on the injured list but that still leaves the Mets with at least five full years of club control.

Núñez underwent Tommy John surgery in July of last year. He started a rehab assignment in late June and has thrown 13 minor league innings this year with a 4.15 ERA. His big league track record consists of 44 2/3 innings with a 2.82 ERA, 33.5% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 45.1% ground ball rate. He still has an option remaining. He crossed three years of service time while on the IL this year and will therefore qualify for arbitration at season’s end.