Angels' Richards finding groove in spring training following knee surgery
Garrett Richards on watching replays of his knee injury, his teammates' encouragement & more from the @an https://t.co/C1QHeaxPLN
— Jill Painter Lopez (@jillpainter) March 3, 2015
Garrett Richards is on the fast track to return to the Angels starting rotation.
Even if it's not in time for the start of the season, and Mike Scioscia told reporters this weekend it would be two to three weeks into the season, it's good news for the Angels.
Richards went down in a heap trying to cover first base last August in Boston and subsequently had knee surgery to repair the torn patella tendon in the his left knee.
He hasn't watched the replay often, but when he has, he still can't figure out what happened.
"I've only watched it a few times over again. It doesn't gross me out or anything," Richards said. "Honestly, I watch it because I don't know what happened. I'm running over to first base one minute and the next I'm on the ground. I can't really describe what I was thinking in between because it happened so fast. It's definitely something I don't want to experience again.
"... I don't think I could do it again if I tried. I think it was that freak of an injury."
Richards knew what he meant to the Angels on the field with his 13 wins and 2.61 ERA before the injury. He's endured months of rehabilitation and all those offseason text messages from teammates showed him how much friendships he formed in the clubhouse have continued.
Mike Trout was checking in on the 26-year-old Richards often.
"I'm happy for him," Mike Trout said. "That was a tough couple of months for him. I was right there with him. Just to see what a competitor he is and can't go out there and compete. The hard work he put in in the offseason (and) every time I talked to him he was rehabbing. Just putting in hard work. It's paying off. He's out there throwing. I'm happy for him."
That kind of encouragement helped Richards through sometimes rigorous rehabilitation that had him targeting a return by Opening Day. He's scheduled to be back in April but not by the opener. Knowing his teammates were pulling for him to make a speedy recovery meant a lot.
"For my teammates to think enough of me to check in on me like that and throughout the offseason to see how I'm doing, that just shows what kind of team we have," Richards said. "I try to be the best teammate I possibly can. We have a whole room of them. Those guys are my family during the year and my brothers for life. They think a lot of me, and I think a lot of them."
The Angels won 98 games last year and had the best offense in baseball. Richards helped form one of the best rotations in baseball alongside Jered Weaver, Matt Shoemaker & Co. C.J. Wilson had on off year at 13-10 with a 4.51 ERA but the veteran is back to try to return to form. Young guns Andrew Heaney, acquired via trade in the offseason, and Nick Tropeano will be two of the pitchers battling for the final spot in the rotation along with Hector Santiago and others. With Richards not returning by Opening Day, two rotation spots will be open in April.
Richards feels blessed to have the opportunity to play baseball, something that fall in Boston helped him realize.
"It made me have a great appreciation for the game," Richards said. "When it's taken away from you, you grow a great appreciation for what you get to do every day. I feel more lucky now. I understand what I get to do for a living. I understand it can be taken away at any time."
Richards is working on the little things to get back to form, and he's throwing bullpens in spring training.
"We're incorporating some lateral movements and trying to regain as natural of a running motion as possible ," Richards said last week from spring training. "The knee feels good right now. It's healed. Now it's just about gaining strength in it again. We're just going to progress with it and see where it ends up."
There's no hesitation on Richards' part about whether his knee will hold up or not.
That's good news for Angels executives and manager Mike Scioscia and Richards' Angels teammates who are ready to make another postseason run, although they hope this one will be different than last year's that saw them get swept by the Royals in the first round of the playoffs.
"We're returning everybody," Richards said. "We have a few new open spots with Hank (Gonger) and Howie (Kendrick) being traded away. For the most part we're returning a lot of our team and that's the team that won the most games in baseball last year. I think we're confident. Last year showed what we can do.
"I think that was more of a confidence builder for us because of the talent we have in this locker room. I think we're more hungry this year. We've shown people what we can do. Now we want to go accomplish it."
