Nationals improved bullpen with Richard Lovelady and Max Kranick

Max Kranick (Minda Haas Kuhlmann, Wikimedia Commons)

We are now one month into the season, and the Washington Nationals have made two interesting transactions in an attempt to improve their bullpen. Both pitchers have something in common as they were most recently with the New York Mets.

On April 16, the Mets traded left-handed relief pitcher Richard Lovelady of Hinesville, Georgia to the National for future considerations according to TSN. Then on Wednesday, the Nationals signed right-handed relief pitcher Max Kranick of Scranton, Pennsylvania to a one-year contract worth $800,000 according to Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors. As part of the contract, there is an option in 2027.  Kranick will either earn $850,000 or $50,000 more than the league minimum if the contract is continued.

The Nationals are Lovelady’s seventh Major League Baseball team. He previously pitched three seasons with the Kansas City Royals (2019 to 2021), one season with the Oakland Athletics (2023), one season with the Chicago Cubs (2024), one season with the Tampa Bay Rays (2024), one season with the Toronto Blue Jays (2025), and two seasons with the Mets (2025 and 2026).

In 2026 with the Mets, Lovelady pitched in 7 1/3 innings and six games. He had a record of one win and one loss with an earned run average of 3.68. Lovelady gave up eight hits, three earned runs, one home run, and four walks, to go along with six strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched ) of 1.64. The win came in a 4-2 Mets win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 28.

With the Nationals, Lovelady has pitched in seven games and seven innings, and has been very effective. He has a record of one win and zero losses with an earned run average of 1.29. Lovelady has given up seven hits, one earned run, and five walks, to go along with seven strikeouts, two holds, one save, and a WHIP of 1.71. The win came in a 2-1 Nationals win over the Chicago White Sox on April 26, and the save came in a 3-2 Nationals win over the Milwaukee Brewers on May 3. Interestingly both wins this season came in extra innings. In the Mets win over the Pirates, the game went into 11 innings, and in the Nationals win over the White Sox, the game went into 10 innings.

Kranick is joining his third MLB team. He pitched two seasons with the Pirates in 2021 and 2022, and one season with the Mets in 2025. In 37 innings and 34 games with the Mets last season, Kranick had a record of three wins and two losses with an earned run average of 3.65. He gave up 34 hits, 15 earned runs, five home runs and five walks, to go along with 25 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.05.

The Nationals will be hoping that the acquisitions of Lovelady and Kranick were better than the recent acquisitions of Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell. Mikolas has an earned run average this season of 7.44 and Littell has an earned run average of 7.24.