Richards 'fine' day after first big league start in eight months
All is well on the Garrett Richards front. The Angels starter checked out "fine" on Monday following his first big league start since tearing his left patellar tendon last August in Boston.
The Angels starter threw 100 pitches in five innings on Sunday and allowed three earned runs during a 4-3 loss at Houston. Richards also walked four and struck out four. Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Richards threw the ball slightly harder than he did during his rehab outings which is normal given that there's a "different adrenaline" that comes with pitching in big league games. With that, the organization was just hoping Richards came out of the start OK.
"We're really impressed where Garrett Richards was not only yesterday when he pitched but how he feels today," Scioscia said Monday prior to his team taking on the Oakland A's. "I think in his process of where he needs to be there's going to be checkpoints almost weekly to see how he comes out of a start, how his bullpens go, and how he pitches in a game."
Richards having any soreness was a concern, among other things, but the Angels starter had none, which didn't come as much of a surprise to Scioscia.
"Really, I think we all felt he was past a lot of that because he's had some very, very rigorous workouts and rehab starts where he's really gotten after it," the Angels manager said. "So, we didn't really expect anything out of the ordinary. There is nothing out of the ordinary so you're just relieved that there's nothing there."
Scioscia says Richards is on a "really meticulous program" in between starts but having to go through weekly "checkpoints" isn't any different than any other player on the Angels roster. Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher is constantly checking in on the pitchers, while Scioscia is in constant contact with position players.
Richards was 13-4 with a 2.61 ERA during the 2014 season. He was one of five candidates selected for the American League All-Star Final Vote, although the nod went to White Sox starter Chris Sale. Richards was in the Cy Young discussion at the time of his injury. Sunday's start was his first on a big league mound in eight months.
