It was announced today that Garrett Richards would be signing a one year deal with Boston, which was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Richards will receive a salary of $10M in 2021, and gives Boston’s rotation much more depth. Something the Red Sox has been lacking over the past two seasons. This signing is the second one in the last 24 hours, as the Red Sox signed Utility Player Kike Hernandez last night.
Garrett Richards spent the last two seasons in San Diego. In that time, he’s posted a 4.65 ERA, and a 4.49 FIP in exactly 60 innings. He has only played 60 innings in that time because 2019 was cut very short due to an injury. He played exactly 8.2 Innings in 2019. 2020 was obviously also a shortened season.
Before he was a Padre, he was apart of the Angels from 2011-2018. A lot of those seasons were injury plagued, but Richard’s best season came in 2015. He had a 3.65 ERA with a 3.86 FIP that year, which other years he may have had better stats, but didn’t play nearly as much. Richard’s has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career, and has had many injury plagued seasons.
Richard’s first good year came in 2014. From 2014-2018, although limited to just 86 starts due to injuries, he had a 3.15 ERA in that span. Which is the fourth lowest among AL pitchers who made at least 50 starts in that time frame. Only behind Cory Kluber (2.85), Chris Sale (2.85), and Blake Snell (2.95). Richards has also only allowed 0.7 homers per nine innings during that stretch, which is the lowest among that specific group of starters over those five years.
Final Thoughts:
The addition of Richards is a move to add depth more than anything. The 2021 rotation will consist of Eovaldi, Rodriguez, Richards, Perez, and then Sale at some point during the season. There’s also the options of Pivetta and Houck, with Seabold and Mata also possibly coming up at one point in the season. This rotation has a ton of depth now. This rotation has the most depth it’s had since 2018.