Bad news for Richards owners in keeper leagues: The club has no plans to shut down the righthander in order to limit his workload.
Apparently the Angels haven’t been reading headlines around the league this season. Some of baseball’s top pitchers and Bronson Arroyo have succumbed to Tommy John surgeries this year and Richards, who averages 96.2 mph on his fastball with an 86.7 mph slider, fits the profile of a future TJS victim.
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Elbow-exploding velocity aside, Richards is on pace to have serious workload concerns. He’s already at 131.1 innings after throwing 145 last season (career-high 157 professional innings in 2011). If the Angels were planning to limit his workload, Richards would probably only be allowed about 175-180 frames this year. However, he’s on pace for more than 215 innings – assuming his arm doesn’t fall off first – and that’s just in the regular season.
If Dipoto is being honest, fantasy owners won’t have to worry about Richards being restricted down the stretch. (They’ll have plenty to worry about with Richards next year, though.)
While Richards isn’t expected to be limited, here’s a look at some other young pitchers who could be shut down in September or at least have a few starts skipped down the stretch (stats through Monday):
*Cuban stats; **including NCAA.
