The New York Mets had just suffered a grueling seven-game losing streak, going 2-8 over 10 games. Once strong, the bullpen is now in a difficult situation, and the entire pitching staff has been labeled “in shambles.” With the team struggling and the pitching woes mounting, the front office made a move to stop the bleeding. However, their choice has only fueled more frustration.
That move came in the form of a new arm for the bullpen. According to a report shared by SNY, “The Mets are signing lefty reliever Richard Lovelady to a deal.” The announcement immediately highlighted the pitcher’s conflicting resume for fans to see. “Lovelady, 29, has a 5.26 ERA across 110 MLB appearances out of the bullpen,” the report noted, before adding the intriguing flip side: “He has a 1.31 ERA for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate this season.” This contrast is the heart of the issue.
It was a desperation signing, especially on the left side of the bullpen. The Mets left-handed depth almost entirely wiped out by crippling injury. The top setup man, A.J. Minter, is out for the season after surgery for a torn lat muscle. Shortly thereafter, another effective lefty, Danny Young, was also lost for the season with an elbow injury that needed Tommy John surgery. And with the veteran Brooks Raley also on the injured list, the team’s need for a left-handed arm becomes a full-blown crisis.
This problem extends well beyond the bullpen. Even the starting rotation, supposed to be a strength, hasn’t been immune to the injury bug. Ace Kodai Senga was recently placed on the 15-day injured list with discomfort in his right hamstring, an injury that is projected to sideline him for more than a month. Two days later, fellow starter Tylor Megill landed on the IL alongside him, spraining his right elbow. That decimation of the pitching staff forced the front office to find help and move fast.
While the Mets front office saw a necessary move, the fanbase saw something very different. The announcement of Richard Lovelady’s signing was met with a wave of immediate and cynical predictions from a fanbase tired of seeing their team falter.
A bleak welcome in Queens
Many fans felt they could already see how this story would end, and they didn’t hesitate to share their bleak forecast for the new reliever’s tenure in Queens. One fan bluntly predicted Lovelady “will be dfad in under 2 weeks.” This grim prediction isn’t just blind pessimism; it’s rooted in Lovelady’s recent major league struggles. In a brief stint with the Blue Jays this very season, he posted a horrifying 21.60 ERA over just 1.2 innings before being designated for assignment.
The signing also tapped into a deeper, more persistent frustration with the team’s overall strategy. This feeling was perfectly captured by one fan who asked, “Why we never getting a top relief pitcher?“ This question echoes through the Mets community because it reflects a clear pattern. The team started 2025 with a brilliant 1.27 bullpen ERA, but that success quickly faded after season-ending injuries to key lefties A.J. Minter and Danny Young. Fans watched proven relievers like Tanner Scott and Kenley Jansen available on the market, yet the Mets opted for patchwork solutions.
This leads to a sense of cynicism, where every low-cost move is viewed not as a savvy find but as another risky gamble. As one supporter sarcastically commented, “Yes, another bargain science experiment.“ This comment hits hard because it feels true to many. Lovelady, with his jarringly high 5.26 career MLB ERA, looks less like a solution and more like a project. He joins a list of other low-cost flyers the team has taken, like Genesis Cabrera or the quickly departed Michael Tonkin.
This pattern of questionable bullpen additions feeds into a deep-seated, historical fear for Mets fans. This historical trauma was summed up by one fan’s resigned statement: “Bullpen will always be our downfall.“ This isn’t just about 2025; it’s a fear born from decades of disappointment. Fans still have nightmares of the 2008 bullpen collapse that cost the team a division title. They remember the countless games lost in the final innings. This year feels no different, with recent meltdowns against the Rays and Dodgers stirring up those old ghosts.
More than anything, when things are going poorly for a team like this, the frustration naturally bleeds from the players on the field to the man responsible for putting them there. The level of anger was apparent from one fan who posted simply: “Sack Stearns.” This feeling comes from the massive gap between the expectations Stearns brought and the team’s current performance. Hired to transform the Mets into a perennial contender like he did with the Brewers, his years in charge are instead being re-evaluated as having leaned too heavily on analytics rather than adding impact talent.
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