Garrett Richards continued to pitch like a major league starter Sunday as the Angels shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 for the second time in as many days.
Richards delivered a worthy follow up to Ervin Santana's 1-hitter, pitching 8 innings and giving up only 4 hits. Ernesto Frieri came in to shut the door in the 9th and picked up his 7th save as an Angel.
With Angels starting pitchers throwing as well as they have been lately, one has to wonder what's going to happen once Jered Weaver (back) comes back to the rotation next week.
The Angels have 6 guys who deserve to be on any rotation in the majors. Obviously Richards is the youngest, least experienced, and would be the first option to go. However, the guy has been lights out since his first start and has found the comfort level that he sorely lacked last season. Taking a starter out of the rotation who is throwing so well and sending him back to Triple A could backfire on the Angels future plans for Richards. The move may stump his development or it could have no effect at all.
The next and only other possibility to get sent down would be Santana, but he earned himself a couple more starters, at least, after his 1-hitter against the D-Backs last night. They're not sending Santana down unless he gives them no choice by falling flat on his face in his next few starts, and I don't see that happening.
Another unpopular, unconventional option would be to go to a 6-man rotation (something the Washington Nationals are considering to do to limit their ace, Stephen Strasburg's inning limit). I'm not a fan of the inning limit because it gives starters too long a rest between starts, which could be detrimental to a pitcher's rhythm.
The last thing would be to move Santana or Richards to the bullpen (something I strongly disagree with) and send a guy like Bobby Cassevah down.
If you were the Angels, what would you do to Garrett Richards when Jered Weaver returns?
Richards delivered a worthy follow up to Ervin Santana's 1-hitter, pitching 8 innings and giving up only 4 hits. Ernesto Frieri came in to shut the door in the 9th and picked up his 7th save as an Angel.
With Angels starting pitchers throwing as well as they have been lately, one has to wonder what's going to happen once Jered Weaver (back) comes back to the rotation next week.
The Angels have 6 guys who deserve to be on any rotation in the majors. Obviously Richards is the youngest, least experienced, and would be the first option to go. However, the guy has been lights out since his first start and has found the comfort level that he sorely lacked last season. Taking a starter out of the rotation who is throwing so well and sending him back to Triple A could backfire on the Angels future plans for Richards. The move may stump his development or it could have no effect at all.
The next and only other possibility to get sent down would be Santana, but he earned himself a couple more starters, at least, after his 1-hitter against the D-Backs last night. They're not sending Santana down unless he gives them no choice by falling flat on his face in his next few starts, and I don't see that happening.
Another unpopular, unconventional option would be to go to a 6-man rotation (something the Washington Nationals are considering to do to limit their ace, Stephen Strasburg's inning limit). I'm not a fan of the inning limit because it gives starters too long a rest between starts, which could be detrimental to a pitcher's rhythm.
The last thing would be to move Santana or Richards to the bullpen (something I strongly disagree with) and send a guy like Bobby Cassevah down.
If you were the Angels, what would you do to Garrett Richards when Jered Weaver returns?
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