Garrett Richards is on the Red Sox ALDS roster
If you told Red Sox fans in the first few months of the season that Garrett Richards would be on the ALDS roster but Matt Barnes would not, no one would have believed you, in part because few expected the 2021 Red Sox to be in the ALDS at all.
But while Barnes fell apart in the second half of the season, Richards became dependable one moving from the rotation to the bullpen. Despite being overworked towards the end of the season, he was a key part of keeping games in Boston’s favor in the home stretch.
In 22 games as a starter, Richards had a 5.22 ERA over 110 1/3 innings, and opposing teams hit .300/.371/.497 with a .868 OPS against him. In 18 relief appearances, he had a 3.42 ERA and held opposing batters to a .240/.319/.340 line and .659 OPS.
Against the Rays this year, Richards has a 6.14 ERA over four games, including one start and one finished. They’ve hit .258/.395/.484 with a .879 OPS and two home runs off him. Most of that can be attributed to one bad start on June 23, in which he allowed four earned runs on three hits, including the two home runs, and was pulled after just 1 2/3 innings. When Richards came out of the bullpen to face the Rays in three September games, he only allowed one earned run over the three appearances and earned one of his three saves of the year.