{"id":300,"date":"2026-05-15T12:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T12:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=300"},"modified":"2026-05-15T12:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T12:35:09","slug":"richard-lovelady-fueled-by-fatherhood-finds-consistency-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=300","title":{"rendered":"Richard Lovelady, fueled by fatherhood, finds consistency in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Richard Lovelady, after closing out a 3-2 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Greg Fiume\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

After pitching a scoreless ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox last month, Richard Lovelady\u2019s eyes welled up and his voice got shaky when he was asked what drives him to keep going in a sport that has tossed him aside multiple times.<\/p>

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\u201cMy son,\u201d he replied, an unexpected wave of emotion rolling over him.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t been an easy three years for the left-handed reliever. He\u2019s been traded, released or designated for assignment nine times, not pitching in more than 28 games in a uniform before being asked to pack up and head somewhere new.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the typical life of a fringe reliever. They are on thin ice once they run out of options \u2014 which allow organizations to shuttle players between the minors and the big leagues \u2014 and begin getting discarded at the first sign of trouble or when their team needs a fresh arm. But with the Nationals, Lovelady, at age 30, seems to be finding his footing, allowing just one run in 9\u2154 innings since being acquired in a cash trade with the Mets on April 16.<\/p>\n

He credits two things to his recent success: his new preparation routine and his toddler son, JT, who has put everything in perspective for him over the last two years. Now, Lovelady said, the uncertainty of the baseball world isn\u2019t quite as scary, knowing his son is waiting for him at home in Arizona in between stops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you first have a kid, you don\u2019t really think it\u2019ll change your life,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t really think about it as more like, \u2018Oh, okay, someone I have to take care of now.\u2019 And then when he\u2019s born, he\u2019s literally a mini you. … A lot of people just figure, \u2018Oh, your family is with you all the time,\u2019 but no, that\u2019s really not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovelady was picked by the Royals in the 10th round of the 2016 draft. He debuted in 2019 and flopped between Triple-A and the majors over the next three years, posting a 5.62 ERA in 41\u2154 innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery. In 2023, finally healthy again, he was traded to the Braves, setting off his whirlwind journey around the league. Over the next three years, he spent time with the Braves, Athletics, Cubs, Rays, Blue Jays, Twins and Mets.<\/p>\n

As a minor leaguer, he succeeded at every level. As a major leaguer, he\u2019s had to learn how to fight for everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day you go out there, you\u2019re on like a day-to-day contract kind of feel,\u201d he said. \u201cYou take every game like it\u2019s your last.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spent most of spring training with the Nationals and was designated for assignment on March 10 only to be reclaimed by the Mets, then designated for assignment again on April 11.<\/p>

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Lovelady says time with his son has helped keep perspective about the role of baseball in his life. (Nick Wass\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

This time, unlike previous occurrences, he decided to go home to Arizona to spend time with JT. He was pitching well and knew that he would get a call soon, so he wanted to take advantage of any time he could with his son. When he\u2019s on an East Coast team, he\u2019s only able to see him about once a month.<\/p>\n

On April 16, the phone rang with the news that the Nationals had acquired him. This time, he took a new approach to his preparation, drawing on what he learned in his last stint with the Mets.<\/p>\n

The night before the game, he\u2019ll typically be told what role he\u2019ll be in the next day, whether it\u2019ll be as a long man, set-up guy, high-leverage reliever or opener. The day of, he\u2019ll be told what part of the lineup he\u2019ll face. That\u2019s when he\u2019ll pull out his black-bounded notebook with the phrase \u201c1 percent better every day\u201d on it and make a detailed report of the hitters he expects to face, plus anyone who might pinch-hit for them.<\/p>\n

Afterward, he\u2019ll make his scouting cards, an index-sized cheat sheet that he puts in a protective sleeve and keeps in his pocket. On the card, he writes down the hitter\u2019s name, then jots down what pitch he should throw with two strikes and another safe pitch. Then he bubbles in whether they are aggressive when the bases are empty and how that changes when someone is on base.<\/p>\n

In the past, he tried to rely solely on memory on the mound. Now, he takes a breath between hitters to check his card and see what he needs to do. It\u2019s not a revolutionary tactic; other players carry similar cards. But for Lovelady, doing so gives him back a sense of control.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s time you get on the mound when you get sidetracked,\u201d he said. \u201cYou go, why did I do that? Why did I do this? I didn\u2019t have an excuse for it, right? … You can trust Ruiz, you can trust Millie, [but] at the end of the day, you are doing your own scouting report.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Lovelady\u2019s addition, the Nationals bullpen has pitched to a 3.76 ERA, compared with 6.17 prior, as the whole unit has taken steps forward. Lovelady has been used in just about every spot, even earning his first save in nearly two years on May 3.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been through enough now to know this may not last. But he\u2019s fighting for his life every day, and if things go south again, he has a toddler at home waiting for him with open arms.<\/p>

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A newish dad at age 30, Lovelady has allowed just one run in 9 \u2154 innings since landing back in D.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nRichard Lovelady, fueled by fatherhood, finds consistency in Washington - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=300\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Richard Lovelady, fueled by fatherhood, finds consistency in Washington - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A newish dad at age 30, Lovelady has allowed just one run in 9 \u2154 innings since landing back in D.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=300\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T12:35:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20b6df3c0be40ff5bdae88c6972310cb-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1695\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Richard Lovelady, fueled by fatherhood, finds consistency in Washington\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T12:35:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300\"},\"wordCount\":1008,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/20b6df3c0be40ff5bdae88c6972310cb-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=300\",\"name\":\"Richard Lovelady, fueled by fatherhood, finds consistency in Washington - 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