It’s going to be a while before we see Justin Hagenman again. The New York Mets have put the struggling spring training pitcher on the 60-day IL with a fractured rib. Replacing him on the 40-man roster is Richard Lovelady.
To call David Stearns addicted to Lovelady would be accurate. Lovelady has repeatedly been waived or released and returned to the Mets since first joining the team last season. Still on the same split contract the Mets re-signed him to back in October, the circumstances have changed a bit since. He was a waiver claim by the Washington Nationals earlier this offseason only to get waived again by them, likely with the same thinking the Mets had: who’s going to pay him extra while in the minors?
The Mets have an opening on their roster for a lefty reliever. With Bryan Hudson not doing a whole lot, Lovelady is as much a candidate to make the team now that he’s back in St. Lucie.
Unless Bryan Hudson starts to show the Mets he deserves a roster spot, Richard Lovelady can take it
Hudson has given up 3 earned runs in 2.1 innings this spring. He has fanned 4 and walked another batter. It’s a terribly small sample size to make any final decision. As a trade acquisition without minor league options, he’s right there on a level playing field with Lovelady. The big difference is Hudson had a spectacular 2024 season. Lovelady has been mostly blah throughout his career with a 5.35 ERA overall.
Lovelady is the type of player that often attracts attention from analytics-focused evaluators. His overall performance hasn’t been impressive, but there are indicators suggesting he may still have some untapped upside. Last season, despite posting an 8.49 ERA with the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays, he showed a few encouraging metrics, including a 60% ground-ball rate and a .208 batting average allowed against his primary pitch, the sweeper.
Now back with the Mets, Lovelady has produced far stronger numbers this spring compared to what Daniel Hudson has delivered. In four innings with the Washington Nationals, Lovelady has struck out seven hitters while surrendering just one earned run.
Whichever left-hander earns a spot in the bullpen will likely only hold it temporarily until A. J. Minter returns from the injured list in May. There hasn’t been much competition among left-handed pitchers in camp, with several already reassigned to minor league camp. The Mets appear likely to carry at least one more southpaw on their Opening Day roster alongside Brooks Raley. Considering the team may only need about a month of solid production from Lovelady, the real risk would be overestimating his abilities beyond what he showed last season.
If you asked most fans what they would prefer right now, many would support either a six-man rotation that includes Tobias Myers or moving Sean Manaea to the bullpen as the second left-handed option for the time being. However, unless circumstances force that decision, Lovelady is expected to have just as legitimate a chance as Hudson or any other fringe major leaguer competing for a spot on the Mets roster.
