CLEVELAND — At 6:40 p.m., right as Joey Cantillo threw the first pitch of the rest of the New York Mets’ season, Jim Lavender was looking around on the concourse beyond right-center field at Progressive Field. His son Nate sat calmly in the bullpen below him, paying attention to his first game as a major leaguer.“It’s surreal,” Jim said. “This is what he wanted. This is where he wants to be.”Alongside her husband, Lisa Lavender chipped in: “Today is expected. This is where he ought to be.”Two hours later, Lavender jogged through those bullpen gates, the game in the balance. The Cleveland Guardians had two on and two out in the seventh, with Travis Bazzana stepping to the plate as the tying run. The situation called for a lefty reliever. For the first four months of the season, it would have been Brooks Raley or A.J. Minter. For the next two months, it will be Lavender.Interim manager Andy Green had talked before the game about getting his new, inexperienced relievers into a game to get their feet wet. Sometimes that entails submersion in the deep end.But the 412th pick of the 2021 MLB Draft caught 2024’s No. 1 pick looking at a fastball. Lavender’s follow-through spun him toward center, and he pulsed his arms — just once — before walking calmly back to the dugout.