Life In The Cell

Clayton Richard: Take 2

Start number two of Clayton Richard’s professional career greatly mirrored his first start. It’s quite surprising to be honest. What I decided to do here, is take a quote from my post about his first start, and then write a corresponding quote that is relevant to this start. So remember, indented writing is old news normal writing is new news.

His final stat line for the game was 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER (5 R), 1 BB, 7 K’s, and 1 HR allowed. His stat line looks ugly, but it really doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. I would say, on the whole, I’m pleased with his performance and encouraged about the future.

His final stat line for the game was 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K’s and 0 HR allowed. His stat line looks ugly, but it really doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story. I would say on the whole, I’m pleased with his performance, and encouraged about the future. I’m encouraged because he rolled through the Twins lineup through the first 4 innings until he had things explode in his face in the fifth.

Here’s a look at his pitch breakdowns by pitch and by inning.

Pitch		In 1	2	3	4	Total
Fastball		17	12	9	15	53
Curveball		0	2	1	5	8
Changeup		0	6	1	3	10
Slider		3	4	0	2	10
Total		20	25	11	25	81

Here’s a look at his pitch breakdowns by pitch and by inning.

Throughout the game, he relied heavily on his fastball, but he relied upon it almost exclusively in the first. I’m sure this was as design to allow Richard to get as comfortable as possible during the first inning. It was undoubtedly a good idea as he was clearly nervous and consequently jacked up during the inning. Against Ian Kinsler, the first batter of the game, he threw 6 fastballs, with an average speed of 92.7 MPH…He actually reached 95 on the gun on a fastball

Throughout the game, Richard relied heavily on his fastball, and he relied on it exclusively in the first. I’m sure this was by design to allow Richard to get as comfortable as possible during the first inning. He didn’t seem nervous like he did at the beginning of his first start. It actually took him a total of 16 pitches before he finally threw a non-fastball (a slider, to be specific). Those 1st 16 fastballs had an average speed of 89.57 MPH, topping out with two pitches at 93 MPH. That average is more along the lines of what everyone expected. In total, 76.8% (56/73) of his pitches were fastballs. He barely threw any breaking pitches (4 total, most of which were the get me over type), yet still flew through the first 4 innings with only 3 hits against him. His sinking fastball was really effective; he induced a bunch of weak grounders. Throughout the game, he induced 9 ground outs vs 2 fly outs.

[In his last inning of work he gave] up 4 straight 2-out hits (resulting in 2 runs)

In his last inning of work, he gave up 2 straight 2-out hits, which resulted in 4 runs. The fifth inning was obviously his undoing. He got in trouble with a pair of walks earlier in the inning; in both cases, he was ahead in the count 1-2, but found a way to walk both Brendan Harris and Denard Span. I guess we’ll have to chalk that up to him being inexperienced. I think that his dependence on his fastball is what killed him in the inning. At this point, it was the start of his third time through the lineup, and everyone knew what was coming. Non-breaking balls. Every single player at that point had to have been sitting on fastballs (or changes). In the inning, yes, he threw his largest number of non-fastballs, but his change isn’t different enough, speed-wise, where it would make an overwhelming difference. I think his change can be an above average pitch, but I don’t think it would serve him well as his second best pitch, after his fastball. Between now and the start of next season, Clayton Richard has to find confidence in his breaking stuff. At this point I can’t even tell if his breaking stuff is good since he threw it so rarely, but he needs either his curve or his slider to become his second best pitch. Then, and only then, will batters not be able to sit on straight pitches all at-bat and all game long.

I was encouraged after his first start, and am encouraged again, this time, by the fact that he could get through the Twins lineup 2 times by basically throwing the same pitch. Throw in the fact that he minimized flyballs, and you have the makings of a pitcher that could be successful at the Cell, but that’s with the caveat that he improves his breaking stuff or just plain utilizes it more. I’m not sure if Richard is scheduled to start again or if Contreras will take his turn in the rotation, but if I were to know going into the start that Richard would use the same approach he used this game, I would prefer Jose to pitch. In this game every single batter but one was fed a steady dose of fastballs. Only Delmon Young saw something different; in his AB in the 4th, he saw 3 changes and a curveball. I would love to see him one last time mixing in breaking balls before getting sent down, but I don’t know if he has the seasoning and or confidence to do that. We will have to wait and see.

Like I said earlier, overall, I’m pleased with Clayton’s performance. The 7 K’s are an indicator that he has the stuff to make MLB level hitters miss.

Like I said earlier, overall, I’m pleased with Clayton’s performance. The large number of groundballs are an indicator he has the stuff to get out MLB level hitters. Hell, if JD didn’t get crossed up on his route on Morneau’s bases clearing double, he may very well have caught that ball and we could have had a different game on our hands. Regardless of the whatifs and couldhavebeens, Richard didn’t get the job done, due I think solely to pitch selection.

I’m dying to see Richard pitch again, because I’m curious as to what will prove to be trends and what will be flukes.

I’m dying to see Richard pitch again, because I’m curious as to whether he can pitch against his fastball trend and mix in off-speed pitches, because ultimately, I think that will make him more effective.