Richards: ‘Nothing that can’t be fixed’

BOSTON -- With the wind whipping around Fenway Park on a chilly Wednesday night, Garrett Richards felt a lot like a carpenter who was missing most of his tools.

The 4 2/3 inning-performance was quite simply a grind that was exemplified by the stat line that came with it in the Red Sox’s 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

Richards had six walks (one shy of a career high), hit a batter and uncorked a wild pitch. He pinned his team in a 4-0 hole by the time it came to bat in the bottom of the second inning.

“I was just kind of fighting my delivery the whole night, release point, the elements, kind of a combination of a lot of stuff,” Richards said. “Just tried to get some outs, didn’t really have a whole lot going tonight, obviously not good. We had a chance there at the end to win the ballgame and [we were] fortunate for that. Just [a matter of] doing some work in between before the next start, doing some release point stuff and some delivery stuff [fixes].”

On a classic April New England night -- it was 55 degrees at first pitch and tumbled colder throughout the night -- Richards had a hard time commanding his arsenal. The start of the game was delayed 31 minutes due to rain.

It had an impact, Richards conceded.

“I mean, we had rain tonight, it was cold. You know, there's a lot of things going on. But that's not an excuse. Got to be better. You got to make pitches and you got to get outs,” he said.

The lanky righty also hopes for some warmer weather. The Southern California native who spends his offseasons in Arizona had only pitched for the Angels and Padres before this season.

“I mean, I didn't even pack a jacket for a season until this year. So I'm going on my ninth, almost 10th year [in the Majors],” Richards said. “So, yeah, it's something different, but it's nothing that can’t be dealt with. I’ve just got to make adjustments. I'm not making excuses. I’ve just got to figure out a way to get it done.”

Though Richards is 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA in his first four starts for the Red Sox, he will get the chance to make the necessary adjustments in the next turn through the rotation.

With an off-day coming up on Monday, manager Alex Cora would have the option of skipping Richards so he could work out his mechanical issues and pitch refinement. However, Cora said he isn’t considering that option.

“No, he can work on it in between starts,” Cora said. “He’s an established big leaguer with a track record.”

Per baseball savant, Richards had a fastball-heavy mix on Wednesday, as 66 of his 92 pitches (72 percent) were heaters. The problem was that just 34 were for strikes (52 percent).

Interestingly, Cora thinks the slider is the bigger issue for Richards, though eight of the 14 he threw were strikes against the Blue Jays.

“He's been working on it, but we have to find it, we have to find that pitch,” Cora said. “It's hard to maneuver a big league lineup with one pitch and it seems like it's been that way during the season. If we can get that pitch back to what it was in the past and use the curveball, too, we're going to have the guy that we envisioned before the season.”

The curveball has been an effective weapon for Richards in his four starts, but he threw just nine of them against the Blue Jays, getting six strikes and three whiffs.

“I'm throwing a lot more curveballs now so I feel like throwing two breaking balls isn't the easiest thing to do from a pitching standpoint,” Richards said. “So in a way I feel like maybe my curveball has taken a little bit of feel away from my slider. But that's work that needs to be done in between [starts]. So we're going to continue to hammer that and then improve that, and hopefully kind of get to a finished product soon.”

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that Richards is struggling with command at this point of the season. Remember, injuries have robbed him of repetition.

From 2016-20, Richards threw just 198 2/3 innings. It might just take him getting out there every fifth day for a sustained period to get back in rhythm.

“I haven’t really been out there in the last several years. But yeah, it’s not something that I’m super concerned with. Obviously I want to do better and pitch better,” Richards said. “Yeah, it’s a constant grind. Throughout the year, you’re going to have good stretches, bad stretches, times when you need to change things. I’ll get [with pitching coach Dave Bush] tomorrow and kind of see what we can improve. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”