You’ve read this on this site before: The Mets have designated left-handed relief pitcher Richard Lovelady for assignment. This time, he’s being replaced by veteran right-handed reliever Craig Kimbrel.
The Mets first acquired Lovelady in June last year, and they’ve now designated him for assignment five times in less than a year. Despite having DFA’d him three times during the 2025 season, the Mets signed Lovelady to a major league deal in late October. And they DFA’d him again in January to clear
a 40-man roster spot when they acquired infielder Vidal Bruján.
When you look at all of that, you can’t help but feel for the player, even if there’s a sense of relief that the Mets might be moving on. Lovelady was booed at Citi Field in the Mets’ first season of the series during an extra-inning loss to the Pirates, but those boos were likely intended as much for the Mets’ front office and manager putting him in that spot as they were for the performance of Lovelady himself.
In 7.1 innings with the Mets since Opening Day this year, Lovelady has a 3.68 ERA and a 4.92 FIP. In 10.0 innings with the Mets last year, he had a 6.30 ERA and a 6.74 FIP.
