Lovelady will serve as the Nationals' opener in Friday's game versus Atlanta, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Lovelady has been used in a variety of roles by the Nats this season -- this will be his third opener assignment, but he has also collected three saves. The lefty will likely pitch just one inning before handing things off to Miles Mikolas, who is set to handle the bulk of the workload Friday.