Mets’ new reliever Richard Lovelady prefers nickname ‘Dicky’

Please, Richard is his father.

The Mets’ newest relief pitcher Richard Lovelady said Monday that he prefers to go by his nickname: Dicky Lovelady.

While Lovelady wants all formal communications like print, scoreboards and broadcasts to still have his government name, he prefers “Dicky” from teammates, fans, staffers or anyone who may run into him at the ball park.

“On a baseball card, I go by Richard Lovelady,” the lefty pitcher said. “On the scoreboard, Richard Lovelady.”

And that’s not even all for Lovelady as far as nicknames go.

Some of his family members call him Tyler, his middle name, to differentiate him from his father, who is named Richard as well.

Lovelady joins the Mets on a major league deal after opting out of his minor league contract with the Twins. Pitching for Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate this season, Lovelady posted a 1.31 ERA in 19 appearances.

Before Lovelady joined New York’s bullpen, the Mets were down to just one left-handed reliever with Jose Castillo, who was acquired from the Diamondbacks in a trade.

“[He’s] tough left-on-left,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Lovelady. “It just adds another weapon there, another lefty out of the bullpen that we can continue to mix and match.”

The 29-year-old made two MLB appearances for the Blue Jays this season, as he pitched through 1 ⅔  innings and gave up four earned runs.

In 2024, he made 28 appearances for the Rays and posted a 3.77 ERA before then joining the Cubs and pitching seven times with a 7.94 ERA.

Lovelady joins a bullpen that has posted the fifth-best ERA in MLB so far this season.

“I’ve heard so much about obviously the pitching department and all the coaches getting the absolute most out of everybody,” Lovelady said. “So I’m excited. I really am.”

In addition to signing and activating Lovelady, the Mets selected outfielder Travis Jankowski to the major league roster, optioned infielder Luisangel Acuña and reliever Tyler Zuber to Triple-A, and placed outfielder Jose Siri on the 60-day injured list.