Richards, McHugh key to Rays' flexibility

Versatility has been a Rays trademark for several years, but given the uncertainty surrounding pitchers’ workloads following last year’s 60-game season, that flexibility will be as important as ever in 2021.

That will make Collin McHugh and Trevor Richards’ potential contributions this season as crucial as ever, as manager Kevin Cash will be working all year to keep his entire staff productive and healthy.

“We haven't made decisions on guys and Opening Day rosters and stuff like that, but I can't imagine scenarios where they're not playing big roles for us,” Cash said before Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Orioles in Sarasota, Fla. “The workloads of the starting pitchers, I think that is the most talked about thing -- probably for good reason -- this spring. Guys that have shown the ability to throw three or four innings and bounce back maybe quicker than your typical starter that goes out there and throw six innings and 100 pitches, it's going to help a lot.”

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Richards allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday, with all four runs coming on a pair of third-inning home runs by Trey Mancini and Maikel Franco. Richards’ spring numbers don’t look particularly good -- he has a 9.82 ERA in three outings -- but Cash liked a lot of what he saw from the right-hander.

“He got behind that inning, but I thought he really competed well, threw the ball well, worked ahead in the count for the most part,” Cash said. “The stuff showed, so I’m encouraged with where he's at.”

McHugh, who opted out of the 2020 season to allow his ailing right arm time to heal, had been a full-time starter for the Astros from 2014-17, but he spent '18 in the bullpen and split time starting and relieving in '19. The 33-year-old knows how important his versatility can be, and however the Rays plan to use him this season, he believes he can have a positive impact on the club.

“Having guys who can do multiple things makes life easier for everybody, from the front office to the coaching staff all the way down to the next guy up in the bullpen or on staff,” McHugh said. “We all pride ourselves in being able to do multiple things -- and do multiple things well. They've done a good job of bringing guys in who have that ability.”

Although no such plans have been firmly put in place, Cash said the Rays could make an effort to curb their starters’ pitch counts at times this season. If a starter throws 100-plus pitches in consecutive outings, it’s possible they could try to cut back on the pitch count in their next start, making the presence of bulk-inning relievers such as Richards and McHugh even more crucial.

“It might make sense to say, 'All right, we're going to keep them on turn, but we're really going to shave some pitches off here,'” Cash said. “Whether it's Collin, whether it's Trevor, whether [Josh Fleming] is part of that, to go find a workload that can actually benefit them by getting work in and benefit the starter for shaving some pitches off to freshen them up for his next two or three outings.”

Cash credited pitching coach Kyle Snyder and bullpen coach Stan Boroski for their communication with the pitchers about their roles, though the manager also lauded general manager Erik Neander for laying out expectations before a player signs with the Rays.

“Erik gets a lot of credit to for kind of laying the groundwork out when the the negotiations are going on,” Cash said. “We saw two guys in Trevor and Collin that we know both can be available to start if they're built up and communicated well, but they also have shown throughout their careers they can be very successful in that role, where they're pitching meaningful innings.”