Kansas City Royals lose another reliever: lefty Richard Lovelady heads to injured list
.jpg "Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Richard Lovelady celebrates after finishing off the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)")
Another left-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals went on the injured list Sunday. And he had taken on increased prominence in the bullpen.
The Royals placed Richard Lovelady on the 10-day IL with a sprained left ulnar collateral ligament before Sunday’s series finale against the Mariners in Seattle.
The Royals recalled right-hander Tyler Zuber for the third time this season to fill Lovelady’s roster spot. Zuber posted a 3.04 ERA in 26 2/3 innings (26 appearances) with Triple-A Omaha.
Lovelady, who made his debut in 2019, began this season at Triple-A. He was recalled in late June. He’d registered a 3.48 ERA, with 23 strikeouts, six walks, a .106 WHIP and a .211 opponent’s batting average in 20 2/3 innings (20 appearances) with the Royals this season.
He’d recorded his first major-league save on Aug. 8, and he had been place in more pivotal high-leverage situations recently. He pitched 2/3 scoreless innings in extra innings Friday night and navigated a no-out situation with a runner on third in the sixth inning of a one-run game in Thursday’s series opener in Seattle.
Lovelady hadn’t allowed a run in his last eight appearances (7 1/3 innings). He’s expected to be evaluated by the Royals’ team doctors on Monday.
The Royals’ bullpen had already been without left-hander Jake Brentz, who went on the IL last Monday with a shoulder ailment. At the time, Brentz led the pitching staff in appearances.
“He was in that role as Jake was getting a little bit of a break — he’s coming along very good, and we anticipated seeing him in the near future,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “It was nice having a couple of lefties. We had a two-headed left-hander monster down there to be able to attack certain parts of lineups and at different times of the game.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get Richard back and get back into that mix. Until then, we’ve watched it (happen). We watched Ervin (Santana) pitch the seventh and eighth. We watched (Joel) Payamps (Saturday) come through in a big situation and do that exact same thing. That’s typically how it works. You just get some outs, and eventually you’re going to find yourself in higher leverage and hope to make the most of it.”
This story was originally published August 29, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
