Garrett Richards had only one out while starting his first spring training, loading bases and halting the innings after 23 pitches before the Red Sox in a single run.
He then went back out for a 1-2–3 second inning.
“It’s building the block man,” he said, after being rescued from training this spring by the new rule, allowing managers to end an innings after throwing 20 pitches, regardless of how many outsiders or runners on base Are.
“Obviously, you want to get over it and you want you to make all the external things that you need.” “So, yes, it was a little disappointing.”
Richards told reporters in Fort Myers, Florida that his pitches were moving well, but he struggled to keep them in the strike zone. He conceded two runs, three hits and two runs in the first innings.
“By all means, not happy about it. Today’s outing isn’t what you’re going to see from me regularly, I’ll tell you now,” he said. “Let me just be a little bit more in mechanical mode versus competitive mode Is needed. So once that kind of flipped, everything kind of felt awesome again. “
Richards spent his first 10 seasons on the West Coast with the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres, the highest cost of ’19 since he was hampered by Tommy John’s surgery in 2018. He went 2–2 with a 4.03 ERA during the epidemic in the 2020 season and signed a $ 10 million one-year contract with Boston in the offseason.
“My focus gets his stuff,” manager Alex Cora said. “He will be one of our people. And that should be a good one. “
He showed it in the second innings, when he retired the Braves in command.
“It was great to get out there and finish a strong second inning, get some quick outs,” he said. “It was good to compensate for that first inning and get into work, complete your outing, but also finish on a strong note.”
Also Monday, shortstop Xander Bogaerts had a sore throat. Cora said Bogarts’ throwing schedule in Aruba was “not right” due to the coronovirus lockdown, and Bogarts ran to get ready.
“We shut him down a little bit,” Cora said. “He’ll be fine in a few days. We have to be patient right now. It’s been a long time, haven’t we? What have we got, 30 more days? So by now, we feel that he should be ready to open the day. “
The Red Sox made four mistakes to beat Atlanta 5–2.
Another injury that was cropped was to pitch a non-roster invitee, Zac Grotz, who won in pain after throwing the pitch and left the game. Cora stated that he later tested fine and felt no pain.
Some players and several members of the training staff had to come down with non-coronavirus disease and needed some time off. After receiving an email stating that he was ill, Cora stated that he had been informed that his COVID tests were negative.
“You see all the negatives, and it was like, ‘Okay, so it’s just a bad meal,” he said. “So they’re bouncing back. … They’re down for the day, but we’ll be alive today.”
Corra said that outfielder Frankie Cordero, who was in the trade sent to Andrew Benintendi in the Kansas City Royals, was en route to Fort Myers and would need a few days to clear protocol.
Kora said that Japanese pitcher Hirakaju Sawamura was expected to arrive on Monday and had already passed her COVID test.
“Everything went in a negative way, in a positive way,” he said.
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