Angels: Garrett Richards looking good to end the season

Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards has looked good to since returning from a lengthy DL stint. This is a good audition for his 2018 potential.

Los Angeles Angels tried making one final push for a Wild Card spot by making a couple of trades. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out as the team is 4.5 games back with just over a week to go. However, the team has something to look forward to in 2018.

The team got back the services of starting pitcher Garrett Richards after missing five months with a biceps injury. He made some rehab starts at the end of August to build up stamina in his arm.

Richards returned on Sept. 5 and pitched just 3.1 innings. No one should have expected him to go seven innings in his first start back. He did strike out three batters in that game.

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His most recent start should give promise to fantasy owners looking for depth in the final week and those looking for sleepers next season.

On Friday, Richards pitched six shutout innings on the road against the Houston Astros. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out six. He threw 85 pitches in the game, which averages out to about 14 pitches per inning.

He’s been building up his conditioning with every start, going longer in each game. Richards’ pitch count has increased with each game and he’s performed well in all of them. Since returning, he’s allowed four runs on 11 hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts in 19.1 innings.

As a 23rd round pick, fantasy owners weren’t expecting much from Richards. He had 34.2 innings pitched in 2016, son his value was already pretty low. They looked at his as a No. 5 pitcher in standard leagues. But after one start, fans either dropped him or stashed him on the DL.

Richards will make his next start on Sept. 27 on the road against the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox offense is picking up, scoring just under five runs per game this month. However, 51 of their 109 runs came in just four games so Richards should be able to shut them down.

Some fantasy owners are interested in Richards. He’s been added in about three percent of ESPN leagues. With back-to-back shortened seasons though, you can’t invest a top-200 pick in him for next year. I’d mark him down as a late pick for 2018 if he has another solid start next week.