On April 11, the New York Mets called up probable future Hall of Famer Craig Kimbrel after being signed to a minor league contract. The Mets had to make room on their roster, so they designated pitcher Richard Lovelady for assignment--which set up the path for the Nationals to acquire him. So far, Lovelady has been lights out for the Nationals, who are surprisingly performing significantly above expectations of many across the baseball world.
Lovelady, who has played in parts of seven major league seasons, including parts of this season and last with the Mets, has not been good at all...until he arrived in the Nation's Capital. In only 14 games with the Mets, he had a 5.19 ERA, a WHIP of 1.50, and 15 strikeouts across 17.1 innings. Not good by any stretch of the imagination, if you want to keep your spot on a big league roster. After he got DFA'ed, the Nationals acquired him in a trade for cash considerations--and that was a huge and successful move for the Nationals to make under their new front office.
Richard Lovelady has been the Nationals' utility reliever
So far, with the Nationals, he has pitched in 20 games (already more than with the Mets), including starting five games, which were his first-ever career starts in the MLB. Across 19.2 innings with the Nats, Lovelady has a 2.75 ERA (51% above league average according to his ERA+ of 151), 18 strikeouts, and a slightly higher WHIP than when he was with the Mets at 1.78.
With the Nationals, Lovelady has proved himself in the show, That he can be dominant, even though he's a journeyman, now playing on his seventh team in parts of his seven seasons.
For Mets fans especially, seeing Richard go to a division rival and dominant, after being a disappointment for their team, to being a star on another in the same season, regardless of it being on a division rival or not.
Did the Mets screw up by DFA'ing Lovelady? I don't think so, because the Mets have been a disappointment this year, especially given their star power. They did what was best for them in the moment, and it bit them hard.
Lovelady's dominance with the Nationals comes down to player development. Some players perform better with different teams due to their development programs — and many players across MLB have had their career trajectories positively change because they were on a team that believed their development program would help them perform better, while getting them on a cheaper deal. That is partly what the Nationals did with Richard Lovelady, and it has worked out very well so far.
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