The New York Mets have now acquired journeyman lefty reliever Richard Lovelady four times in the last nine months.
Some teams have a strange relationship with certain players, and that’s definitely true of the New York Mets and left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady, as the Mets once again claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals, with the news reported by Mark Polishuk of MLBTradeRumors.com.
The move was necessitated by an injury to Mets’ right-hander Justin Hagenman, who was placed on New York’s 60-day injured list after sustaining a broken rib.
The move brings Lovelady full circle back to Queens and Citi Field. The Mets designated him for assignment in January, and the Nationals picked him up, and now the Nationals need room for their new pitching addition, Zack Littell.
This is the fourth time the Mets have acquired Lovelady in the last nine months. Initially he was signed in June, but he spent just a few days with the Mets for the team designated him for assignment. He elected free agency, then resigned with the Mets just days later, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
Lovelady became a free agent at the end of the season, then re-signed on a split contract. Three months later, the Mets DFA’d him a second time, and Washington scooped him up. He managed to remain with the Nationals designated him for assignment earlier this week.
In between the bouncing back and forth, Lovelady pitched ten innings for the Mets, allowing seven earned runs. He’s been better at Triple A Syracuse, so in many ways he profiles as a classic "Four-A" player. Lovelady broke into the majors with the Kansas City Royals in 2019, but he’s been bounding around after spending his first three seasons in Kansas City. He had Tommy John surgery in 2022, and since then he’s been a staple of the transaction wire.
This move is necessary due to the fractured rib sustained by Hagenman, who was considered a rotation depth piece.
“It’s a pretty significant injury,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of Hagenman, who was slated to start the season in Syracuse’s rotation. “He’s going to be down for a while.”
Lovelady is now signed to a split contract this season after inking the contract back in October, and it guarantees him a $350K salary in the minors and $1 million in the majors.
Hagenman make his MLB debut in 2025 as part of the Mets’ revolving door of pitchers, and the former draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers posted a 4.56 ERA across his first 23-2/3 innings. His 34 strikeouts were impressive, but Hagenman also allowed four home runs.