The uneasy starts followed by the equally uncomfortable postgame Zoom sessions had dominated Garrett Richards' existence for just about a month.
The Red Sox' pitcher and his lot in life was being put on display for everyone to see like perhaps no other ballplayer since Major League Baseball's crackdown on grip-enhancing substances. Honesty. Frustration. And few too many outs. It was all part of Richards' equation.
These past few weeks have been a wild ride.
Now, things are starting to slow down. Richards has come to grips with the new normal, a reality put on display during the Red Sox' 11-5 win over the Phillies.
"Yeah, I’ve had to reinvent a lot of things, but I’ve already talked about that stuff, so I’m trying to move forward," said Richards after five-inning, three-run outing. "I’m trying to improve. I’m about taking steps forward now. It is what it is. The good pitchers are going to figure out a way to be successful. I would like to think I’ve been in the league this long, and I’m not here because I used rosin and sunscreen. I’m here because I’m a good pitcher.
'Just like me, a lot of other guys are going to figure out a way to be successful. It’s either adapt or die at this point. I’m moving into some really good thought processes with my physical abilities and everything, so everything is starting sync up. I’m starting to get more comfortable with it. A lot of good’s come from this, too. I won’t say it’s all negative. I’ve learned a lot over the last few weeks as far as my stuff and how to throw a baseball. I guess back to the basics. But yeah, things are trending in the right direction. I’m here to just try to win a ballgame every fifth day. That’s my job.”
Make no mistake about it, this was not the Richards that displayed utter dominance at times through the season's first few months.
The first two innings were once again very uncomfortable for the righty, giving up a run in the first and two more in the second. Opponents are now hitting .363 and .342 in Innings 1 and 2, respectively.
"That doesn't have to do with sunscreen and rosin. He's been doing that since Day 1 here," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora regarding Richards' early-game struggles. "It seems like it takes him a while. But I do believe, he did a good job using his breaking ball, keeping them off balance. There were some hard hit balls, yeah, we know that, but also there were some swing and misses, some good pitches, and five was enough tonight. The last two have been solid. Obviously the one against Kansas City was good. Hopefully for him, it's something to keep building off of it. He's been solid for us. He went through that stretch obviously where he struggled, but overall I think it was a good first part of the season."
Make no mistake about it, Richards is still living on the edge of the starting rotation. There is still plenty to figure out, including how to rediscover a curveball that was such a quality weapon for much of the season.
Simply put, he is sitting with a 4.91 ERA heading into the All-Star break with the presences of Chris Sale and Tanner Houck looming.
There is hope, however. The frustration is subsiding with slivers of optimism bubbling up. That's something.
"I mean, I never in my mind thought I would not be able to figure it out," Richards explained. "It was just kind of frustrating I had to do it in the middle of the season. That was my only beef with the whole thing. I’m not mad that they took away our sticky substance or whatever you want to call it. I knew I would be able to adapt, I just thought it was unfortunate that I had to do it in the middle of the season while we’re playing meaningful games. That was my only beef with it. If you would have told me in the offseason to figure it out to be ready for the season, it would have been a different story. But there’s nothing we can do about it now,a nd we’re all just trying to move forward. Like I said, my goal is every day to take a step forward. I’m learning new things about myself, about pitching, about sequences. I’m starting to throw a changeup now that I have a lot of confidence in. So, yeah, I’m growing as a pitcher and just tryig to adapt and win a game every single time my name is on the lineup card.”