Mets Claim Richard Lovelady

The Mets announced that left-hander Richard Lovelady has been claimed off waivers from the Nationals.  Right-hander Justin Hagenman was placed on New York’s 60-day injured list in the corresponding move, as Hagenman will now miss the first two months of the season recovering from a rib fracture.

It’s a quick return to Queens for Lovelady, who was designated for assignment by the Mets in late January and then claimed by the Nationals.  After a little over a month in Washington’s spring camp, Lovelady was DFA’ed again since the Nats needed roster space for the newly-signed Zack Littell.

Lovelady broke into the majors with the Royals in 2019, and he spent his first three big league seasons in Kansas City before a Tommy John surgery cost him the entirety of the 2022 season.  Since recovering from his surgery, Lovelady has become a regular on the transactions list, as he has bounced around to multiple clubs in a series of trades, waiver claims, signings and re-signings.  Since the start of the 2023 campaign, Lovelady has a 5.19 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 9.0% walk rate over 69 1/3 innings with five different teams at the Major League level.

This nomadic stretch includes multiple stints with the Mets over the last year, beginning last June when New York signed Lovelady after he’d opted out of a minor league contract with the Twins.  Lovelady ended up posting a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings with the Amazins, while also being DFA’ed and outrighted three different teams.  The southpaw refused the first of those outrights and elected free agency, but soon re-signed with the Mets.

Lovelady has been out of minor league options following the 2024 season, which is why he has been ping-ponged around without much roster security.  While the Mets clearly see enough in Lovelady to keep re-acquiring him, he is likely viewed as no more than left-handed bullpen depth, and a possible candidate for another DFA if New York needs roster space.  Lovelady is signed for 2026 on a split contract that he inked with the Mets in October, and is guaranteed a $350K salary in the minors and $1MM in the majors.

Hagenman was a 23rd-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2018 draft, and signing with the Mets last offseason helped pave the way for the righty to make his MLB debut in 2025 as part of the Mets’ revolving door of pitchers.  Hagenman posted a 4.56 ERA across his first 23 2/3 innings in the Show, with an impressive 23 strikeouts against only two walks but also four homers allowed.

After spending most of his minor league career in a strict relief role, Hagenman has been used more as a swingman in Boston and New York’s Triple-A teams over the last two years.  He was viewed as a longshot candidate to make the Mets’ Opening Day roster anyway, but this rib injury will now heavily delay Hagenman’s work even at Triple-A Syracuse.  One minor silver lining is that the placement on the big league 60-day IL will earn Hagenman some Major League service time.