The Rays introduced Tuesday that they’ve designated left-hander Richard Lovelady for project. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to outfielder Jake Mangum, whose contract has been chosen. Mangum’s choice to the roster protects him from subsequent month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Lovelady, 29, break up the 2024 season between the Cubs and Rays, combating the previous however pitching fairly nicely for the latter. The southpaw gave Tampa Bay 28 2/3 innings of three.77 ERA ball, albeit with a sub-par 16.8% strikeout fee. Lovelady’s 7.6% stroll fee and 53.5% ground-ball fee had been each sturdy marks, nevertheless, and the lefty has lengthy proven an attention-grabbing mix of missed bats and grounders to associate with strong command. In 99 1/3 large league innings, Lovelady has a 21.1% strikeout fee, 8.4% stroll fee and 50.9% grounder fee. He’s nonetheless been tagged for a 4.98 earned run common, thanks largely to a 66% strand fee, however metrics like xFIP (4.27) and SIERA (4.02) have been extra bullish than ERA.
The Rays can have per week to commerce Lovelady or try to go him by way of waivers. They’ll additionally non-tender him earlier than Friday and minimize him proper from the roster with out first exposing him to any type of waivers — the one time of 12 months golf equipment are in a position to take action. He’s out of minor league choices, so any membership that acquires Lovelady would want to hold him on the 40-man roster to open the season. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Lovelady for a $900K wage in 2025. He’s controllable by way of the 2027 season.
Mangum, 28, got here to the Rays because the participant to be named later within the deal that despatched utilityman Vidal Brujan and righty Calvin Faucher to the Marlins. He spent the 2024 season in Triple-A, the place he slashed .317/.357/.442 with six homers and 20 steals in 428 turns on the plate. Mangum is a switch-hitter with good velocity, sturdy bat-to-ball expertise and the flexibility to play all three outfield spots. He’ll seemingly get a chance to make his MLB debut in a fourth-outfielder position with the Rays in 2025.
