What to make of Garrett Richards’ recent struggles
Since Major League Baseball has been cracking down on the use of sticky substances used by pitchers, we’ve seen spin rates drop drastically across the league.
The Red Sox have been no exception to seeing struggles due to this crackdown, as guys notorious for good breaking stuff have seen a change in performance — Matt Barnes, Adam Ottavino, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Richards.
The latter of those four has been going through it terribly; it stems further than his past two starts. Entering play on Wednesday, the 33-year-old had a 5.54 ERA and a SIERA of 5.10 since May 25. He needed a good start in the worst way against the Rays, and, well, he did everything but impress. After getting the first two guys out in both innings he worked, he combined to allow four earned runs, four walks, two home runs and three hits. He only was able to put a bow on the first inning.
Not to mention his curveball spin rate was down considerably after not throwing it once in his last start in Atlanta.
His final line: 1.2 innings, three hits, four walks, zero strikeouts, four earned runs and just two swings-and-misses. His body language was especially bad, looking like a man who has no answers to his problems.
He aired out these frustrations in his postgame press conference as well, claiming, “I feel like I need to be a different pitcher than I have been the last nine-and-a-half years.”
Red Sox fans have responded as expected to this quote, calling him everything from an excuse-maker to a flat-out awful pitcher. But, of course, Richards is the one who said — in jest — that he forgot his coat when he came to Boston when he got off to a slow start in April. But he then tinkered his mechanics and, for about six weeks, was Boston’s best pitcher.
So what should be made of Richards’ recent struggles?
Considering Garrett Richards isn’t the only pitcher that’s struggled since MLB cracked down on substance use, being too harsh on him for two considerably bad starts would be a bit unfair. You can criticize his poor performance; you can even say he’s way too dependant on the use of substances. However, if the baseball is too slick to grip correctly, pitchers that rely on their breaking pitches are going to struggle.
Tyler Glasnow himself said that despite dominating against the Washington Nationals, he had to change his grip on his curveball and fastball completely. As a result, he ended up suffering a slight UCL tear. Seeing as he has some of the longest fingers in the league and still needed to bury the ball in his hand to get a good grip on it should tell you enough.
Not everyone has the benefit of super long fingers. So for someone like Richards, it might be harder to get a comfortable grip on the baseball. His usage of that pitch would reflect that theory, as he’s thrown it just 11 times in his last two starts (7.2 percent usage).
For reference, his usage rate on his curveball entering June 16 was 16.1 percent.
Second, overreacting to a run of bad starts in a row is what everyone did back in April. After four starts, Red Sox fans were ready to designate Richards for assignment. After that, his next nine starts saw him pitch to a 3.35 ERA and a 4.32 SIERA. Just because he struggled on Wednesday — last Wednesday too — doesn’t mean he will three starts from now. He’s been in the league since 2011; he’s got some talent. Please give him a little bit of a leash before you put him in the dog house; he earned it with that run of nine starts.
He’s not the man he was in Anaheim before injuries derailed an All-Star-caliber career. But to say he’s awful and that he should get released or sent to the bullpen because of two bad starts is foolish. He has something to offer this ball club.