3/13 update: I have since updated these rankings on March 13th. Check out those rankings here.
It's day 3 of our 2017 Starting Pitcher rankings for Fantasy Baseball after going over the Top 20 and Top 40 and now we're going through the Top 60. It gets a little trickier now as you need to balance upside and stability as you're beginning to close out your pitching staff.
Tier 4: Trailer Parkour Boys
41. Garrett Richards (Los Angeles Angels) - New tier here of eight guys that are pretty dang risky, but come with a thrill that some people will enjoy chasing. Just like those fools climbing absurdly tall buildings without harnesses n stuff. Anyway, there is a reason I've called Richards a PEAS for a while and it is tempting to called him APPEASED but I'm not fully sold. The most obvious question mark is the fact that his 2016 was shortened by a UCL tear that somehow didn't require TJS. He should be back as the opening day starter for the Halos, but the obvious concern is still there. But if we're assuming a fully healthy Richards, what can we expect? I'd say about a 8.00+ K/9 with a walk rate hovering 3.20 BB/9 and an ERA around 3.40. That's...fine? To be fair, there is plenty of room to grow - his Fastball is gorgeous and will be the catalyst for a 50%+ groundball year, mixing in Two-Seamers with a sweet Cutter. I mean, I love the idea of Richards - Cutters one way, Two-Seamers the other, with Sliders going down and the ocassional slow hook to mess around with batters. Oh, and then there's his Changeup that I refuse to acknowledge since he only started throwing it last season and it did not look pretty. There's big potential here if he harnesses his command of his heater, but you can't expect that when he's been away from the game this long and he doesn't have a history that would indicate it was right around the corner. At the end of the day, Richards could be overlooked in your drafts - he deserves to be drafted in the top 175 - just don't expect the impact size of Richards to be all that big. Was that a terrible joke? Yes. Yes it was.
