Meyer helps deliver an Angels win
The right-hander has worked on his mechanics, and early results are positive.
ANGELS 8 OAKLAND 6
Seeking to recapture his old form earlier this month, Alex Meyer resorted to the earliest captures he could find on the Internet: YouTube.
“Yeah, I literally just hopped on YouTube,” he said. “I was talking to one of the trainers and they wanted to see some old footage, so I thought, ‘Let’s see what we can find on there.’ ”
There, the 26-year-old found his highlights from his junior season at the University of Kentucky, in 2011. He grew an inch every year of college and worked specifically on staying tall while on the mound, to keep his arm slot high. On the video, the Angels’ 6-foot-9 right-hander looked different. He knows now that his arm slot dropped as he returned from two months on the disabled list because of shoulder discomfort in 2013. So he went to work reverting to his style.
“You can see my arm slot was a little bit higher, my mechanics were a little bit different, my stride wasn’t quite as long,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to get muscle memory without doing it for so long, but it’s just an adjustment that needs to be made and hopefully build consistency and, in the long run, hopefully keep me healthy and try to not get so sore.”
Early results are positive. Meyer made his final start of the season Wednesday night in the Angels’ 8-6 victory over Oakland and yielded two runs on two doubles and a single in the first inning. He then threw three more scoreless innings, and might have started the fifth inning if not for the Angels’ efforts in the bottom of the fourth, when they sent 14 batters to the plate and scored eight runs. There were four doubles, three singles, two walks, and one Kole Calhoun home run.
Meyer had a 4.57 earnedrun average in 212⁄3 innings in five abbreviated starts since his Aug. 1 acquisition. He struck out 24 and walked 13, for him an encouraging beginning.
“It’s just a matter of consistency,” he said. “With that, I literally try to watch it before I go to bed at night, to have that in my mind and try to feel that a little bit . ... It’s just going to take time. I know it’s not going to happen overnight.” Richards throws
Garrett Richards faced hitters for the first time in four months Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium. As most of his teammates crowded around to observe, he threw 20 pitches and broke two bats.
“I felt good on the mound,” he said. “The ball is coming out of my hand good. It’s got the same action as before, so that’s encouraging.”
Richards was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in May and was close to choosing seasonending Tommy John surgery. Instead, he opted for a stem-cell injection, and repeated imaging has demonstrated improvement in the ligament. He resumed playing catch in mid-August and began throwing off a mound last week.
He will next throw two innings in the Arizona Instructional League on Monday, then three innings and four before shutting down for the winter. If there are any complications or a tear is rediscovered, he has said he would soon undergo the surgery so he could ensure his health for 2018.
Richards threw fastballs, curveballs and sliders. He said he has scrapped the changeup he refined during spring training and does not plan to re-incorporate it into his repertoire.
“I’m just trying to be more conservative as far as the way I use my body to throw,” Richards said.
Richards, 28, was the Angels’ opening-day starter. If he is unable to pitch next season, the team’s chances of rebounding from a losing season appear minimal. They are counting on him.
“These are just baby steps right now, but it’s an important first step,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He felt great during the workout. We don’t anticipate him doing anything but feeling good in the next couple days.”
Short hops
Mike Trout took a 96mph fastball off his left shoulder in the eighth inning. He was immediately removed from the game, with no diagnosis immediately available. Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (flexor-pronator strain) is on track to start Saturday or Sunday. … Right-hander Jered Weaver may or may not start over the weekend after exiting his Monday night start with back tightness. If he doesn’t, his Angels career could be over.