The Angels spent the entirety of their last offseason trying to find a young arm, high-end arm for their rotation. Little did they know they had one in their rotation already as Garrett Richards blossomed into a bona fide ace. Then he went and blew his knee out on a routine fielding play because DAMMIT.
How did Garrett get so good?
It appears to be a confluence of circumstances. Mechanical adjustments that he made back in 2013 really started to pay off. Richards displayed improved command and even managed to find some extra velocity, which is kind of hard to believe due to how hard he already threw. Velocity is often overrated, but considering how much natural movement Richards has on his fastball, an improved ability to command said fastball, particularly in keeping the ball down, while simultaneously throwing it harder is a pretty devastating combination for hitters. That’s a big reason his strikeout rate jumped all the way to 24.2% and he was so adept at limiting hard contact.
Richards also made some adjustments in his approach, largely in his pitch mix. He increased the usage of his sinker and continued to incorporate his curveball more while turning his changeup into an endangered species. People always say how good Garrett’s stuff is, but that is mostly in relation to his fastball and slider. The changeup, not so much.
It probably also helped that Richards finally had a guaranteed spot in the rotation. The Halos really screwed with his development by constantly shuttling him between the rotation, the bullpen and the minors the three previous years of his career. It affects a players ability to prepare and ability to learn from their mistakes.
How did nobody see it coming?
Because baseball is weird, man. That’s why.
Actually, it isn’t so much that nobody saw it coming so much as people gave up on it happening. Becoming a top-of-the-rotation arm was always a possibility for Richards given his raw talent and stuff. It was never terribly likely, but it was there if everything broke right. However, until Opening Day of 2014, not all that much was breaking right for Richards. He was just about to turn 26, so you can’t really blame people for writing him off as no more than a #3 starter at best.
Will Richards be the same when he returns in 2015?
That’s the fun part of his injury, nobody really knows. He’s basically the first pitcher to suffer the injury, or at least the first during this era in which such things are tracked. In other sports, a torn patellar tendon can be devastating as it can rob an athlete of their explosiveness. That isn’t as much of a concern for a baseball player, especially a pitcher. Still, the injury is to his landing leg, so you’d think stability would be important, too. The few experts that I’ve found that have written on this all seem to think he’ll come back close to the same as before, but there just isn’t enough evidence for anyone to be sure.
For all we know, his leg could be fine, but suffering such a major injury could screw with Richards’ mechanics if he is tentative about putting weight on his knee. From there, it is a butterfly effect on his performance. This may just be paranoia speaking though. He could end up coming back on time and pitching like he never got hurt at all. In fact, let’s just go with that theory because it makes me feel better. The other theory gives me an ulcer.
So Richards is the next Kendrys Morales, right?
DON’T EVEN JOKE LIKE THAT!
Final Answer
All the Angels can do at this point is hope that Richards can avoid the worst case scenario in his recovery. Reports so far are good, but with so much uncertainty, this time next year we could be looking back at Garrett’s 2014 season with nostalgia, trying hard not to cry. Let’s hope it never comes to that.
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