Nate Lavender

20. August 2025

Shuttered for season

The Rays announced Tuesday that Lavender is scheduled to have surgery in the near future to remove a bone spur in his left elbow and will miss the remainder of the season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

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A Rule 5 selection over the winter, Lavender has resided on the Rays' injured list all season while on the mend from a May 2024 internal brace procedure on his elbow. Lavender was expected to be healthy enough to pitch during the second half of the season, but after developing the bone spur at some point in the ramp-up process, he never advanced to a minor-league rehab assignment. On a positive note, Lavender doesn't appear to be dealing with any new ligament damage to his surgically repaired elbow, so the procedure to address the bone spur may not affect his availability for the start of spring training.