Garrett Richards sat at the far end of the dugout Friday discussing the latest calamity of his star-crossed career, a “high-grade” ulnar collateral ligament tear that will probably require surgery and sideline the Angels ace for the rest of this season and at least half of 2017.
The 27-year-old right-hander, one of the hardest-throwing starters in baseball, was reminded that just two summers ago, he stood in almost the exact same spot, on crutches, lamenting the fluke left-knee injury that thwarted a 2014 season in which he probably would have garnered Cy Young Award votes.
“Yeah,” Richards sighed, “I haven’t had a great couple of years, I suppose.