A's Claim Veteran Lefty From Atlanta Braves

The A's may have figured out a new market inefficiency: Getting players from the Atlanta Braves without having to trade away an All-Star level talent. 

Oakland has announced that they have claimed veteran southpaw Richard Lovelady from the Atlanta Braves, and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. To open up a spot for him on the 40-man roster, the A's moved Freddy Tarnok to the 60-day IL. Tarnok has been dealing with a strained right shoulder and was placed on the IL initially back on March 30, retroactive to March 27. He should now be eligible to return on May 30. 

Lovelady is another arm in the slew of veteran relievers the A's have brought in, but he also gives them another option from the left side. With JP Sears in the rotation and pitching well through two starts, Sam Moll is the only left-hander currently in the Oakland 'pen with Kirby Snead also on the 60-day IL. 

Jake Fishman, another lefty with some experience in the big leagues, was placed on the 7-day IL by the Aviators on Tuesday. Garrett Williams, who has yet to make his Major League debut, had been the only lefty reliever in Las Vegas. 

Lovelady, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, and got into four games total last season. One was in Double-A, and three in Triple-A. He totaled four innings pitched, gave up one hit, zero runs, walked one, and struck out nine. 

He was purchased by Atlanta during the off-season and held a 7.20 ERA in five innings, giving up four hits, four runs, walking two, hitting one, and striking out four with Triple-A Gwinnett. 

The lefty has spent time in the Majors, all with the Kansas City Royals from 2019-2021. In total he has thrown 41.2 innings and racked up a 5.62 ERA with a 1.488 WHIP. He's struck out nearly a batter an inning, and walked 3.2 per nine. His hits per nine were a bit high at 10.2.

However, in 2021, those numbers were a lot better across 20.2 innings pitched. He held a 3.48 ERA with a 1.065 WHIP, walked just 2.6 per nine, struck out 10 per nine, and the hits per nine dropped to seven. That season he was throwing his 87 mph slider about 50% of the time, and also working with a 4-seamer and a sinker. 

Compared to 2019 (when he tallied 20 innings), he used his slider ten percent more and dropped the changeup that he'd been throwing occasionally.

According to Brooks Baseball, the changeup is back in 2023 and has accounted for 5% of the pitches that he has thrown. He's also using his slider a lot less, down to 33%, while his 4-seam (40%) and sinker (22%) are accounting for the rest of his pitch mix. 

Part of the reason for this change could be a drop in velocity post-surgery. Again, per Brooks Baseball, the slider is sitting about 85, and his four-seam has gone from 93 to 90 mph. 

It's not likely that he'll be in Oakland immediately, but he does give the A's a left-handed option with some big league experience to call upon should the need arise.