South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Breaking news: More diversified pitch mix working for Richards
Righty allowed just 1 run vs. Rockies
MIAMI — Coming into
2019, Trevor Richards was determined to mix more breaking pitches into his arsenal after relying primarily on his fastball and changeup in last year’s rookie campaign.
While one start is a limited sample size, the early data shows he’s following through on that plan.
In his first appearance of the season Friday night, Richards allowed just one earned run in six innings
(82 pitches), utilizing an increased dose of breaking pitches. After throwing his breaking stuff— primarily a slider — just 13.4 percent of the time in 2018, he used his curveball and cutter on 28.4 percent of his pitches Friday against the Rockies.
That percentage increase gave a Richards a more diversified pitch mix, making it harder for batters to sit on one pitch. Last season, Richards threw his low-90s fastball 54 percent of the time, and since he doesn’t have high-end velocity, that made it critical for his command to be on point.
On Friday night, he was more unpredictable, throwing his four-seamer 37 percent the time, to go along with his elite changeup, which he tossed 34.6 percent — on par with last year’s average (32.2 percent).
“I thought I mixed pretty well,” Richards said. “[There’s] definitely some pitches I need to execute better, but overall it was a good start and I look to improve from there.”
For the night, Richards allowed just four hits and two walks, while striking out four. Despite the strong outing, the 25-year-old took a no-decision in the team’s
6-1 loss. Richards has been snake-bit with low run support in his short career. Last season, he made six starts where he gave up fewer than two earned runs — only to receive a no-decision or loss.
Richards’ elite changeup has been his calling card since being called up last season.
In 2018, he posted a 41 percent whiff rate on his off-speed pitch, which rated third-best in the league. Batters only hit .165 on the changeup, but they fared much better on his
low-90s fastball, batting
.310.
He tried introducing a slider late — which he threw just 13 percent of the time — but the results weren’t there, with teams notching a .321 average.
This offseason, he moved back to his college town, training at Drury University in Springfield, Mo. His
Rockies at Marlins
When/where: 1:10 p.m., Marlins Park, Miami
On the air
TV: Fox Sports Florida; Radio: 940-AM, 710-AM (Spanish)
On the mound
Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara vs. Rockies RHP Jon Gray: Alcantara is making his first start of the season after posting a 3.44 ERA in six starts during his rookie year. … Sunday’s series finale will mark his first career appearance versus the Rockies.
Monday— Marlins LHP Caleb Smith vs. Mets LHP Steven Matz
Tuesday— Marlins RHP Jose Urena vs. Mets LHP Jason Vargas
Upcoming series
April 1-3 vs. Mets, April 5-7 at Braves work clearly paid off as the right-hander was sharp throughout spring training in Jupiter. In five starts, Richards posted a 1.86 ERA with 20 strikeouts and four walks. While Statcast data wasn’t available in Grapefruit League play, Richards said he utilized his curveball and cutter much more frequently.
Marlins president baseball of operations Michael Hill cited the rapid improvement of Richards’ breaking pitches and the team’s pitching depth as one of the reasons the team felt comfortable releasing starter Dan Straily at the tail end of camp.
After seeing the righthander make his season debut, Marlins manager Don Mattingly was impressed with what he saw.
“Hopefully, it’s consistent like that,” Mattingly said. “He had a lot of quality pitches. Even the misses — because you’re not going to throw a strike with every pitch — were in good spots, which allows him to work his sequences off of those pitches.”