Clayton Richard

The pitching-starved Padres sent Richard to the hill every five days, where he recorded a 4.79 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 32 starts, spanning 197.1 innings. The silver lining is Richard's ratios were slightly inflated by a .353 BABIP, unusually high even for a groundball specialist. His 4.23 FIP and 3.76 xFIP are a better reflection of his skills. The veteran lefty features a 91-mph fastball along with a slider and change. A 17.7 percent strikeout rate indicates he doesn't miss many bats, preferring to induce grounders, which he did 59 percent of the time. The Padres must be hopeful Richard pitches more to his expected ERAs as they inked him to a two-year extension in September, with intentions on keeping him in the rotation for at least this season. With Petco Park at his back, Richard is a viable spot starter in mixed leagues with deep benches, but be ready to cut bait if he struggles as there's no upside worth waiting for.

Richard opened 2016 as one of the final members of the Cubs' bullpen, but a variety of minor ailments and poor results over 25 relief appearances led to his removal from the roster in late July. With a pitching staff plagued by injuries throughout the season, the Padres signed Richard in August in their quest to find viable innings eaters down the stretch. Working mostly as a starter in San Diego, Richard churned out a 2.52 ERA despite 5.7 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9, mainly via avoiding extra damage from free passes by keeping the ball on the ground (63.2 percent groundball rate) and stranding baserunners at an elevated rate (79.8 left-on-base percentage). At age 33, Richard inked a one-year, $1.75 million deal to return to the Padres, where he will presumably open the year in the rotation. However, all the indicators are there for him to perform much worse this time around, leaving him as an end-game play in NL-only leagues.

Richard had an odd year, starting nine games for Triple-A Indianapolis before the Pirates sold him to the Cubs, who kept designating him for assignment and then bringing him back. Richard's numbers aren't fantasy worthy - his strikeout rate in particular is embarrassing - but he turned himself into an extreme groundballer in 2015 and had some mild success. His 5.06 GB/FB ratio is nowhere near the figures he's put up throughout his career, but that rate has been steadily increasing over the last several seasons before shooting up last year. Is there room for a veteran pitcher who keeps the ball on the ground, can occasionally spot start, but also isn't too proud to spend time in the minors? Apparently so. That doesn't make him a good fantasy asset though.

Slated to head the Padres' rotation last year, Richard suffered through incompetence and an intestinal virus, before undergoing season-ending surgery in July to relieve discomfort in the acromiovacular joint in his left shoulder. Once the campaign concluded, the Padres outrighted the southpaw, who eventually elected to explore free agency. Organizations may be dubious of Richard, who recorded a 7.01 ERA, 1.633 WHIP, and 24:21 K:BB ratio in 52.2 innings, despite the built in advantage of taking the mound half of the time in the friendly confines of Petco Park. However, he's entering his age-31 season and is one year removed from posting a 54 percent groundball rate, which could translate in another pitcher's park.

Coming off of a 2011 season that was ended prematurely by shoulder surgery, Richard's 2012 season was by most accounts a fine bounceback effort. While he was unable to regain the strikeout rate he had prior to the surgery, he was able to improve his command greatly as he walked fewer than five percent of the batters he faced and improve upon his groundball rate, which was up to almost 54 percent when the 2012 season ended. If those two characteristics of his game carry over to 2013, there is little reason to think that he can't post a sub-4.00 ERA for the fourth consecutive season. Owners who are able to pick and choose his starts would be wise to start him only at home (Petco Park), where he has a career 2.82 ERA over 284 innings pitched.

It's hard to put much stock into Richard's 2011 numbers as he suffered from shoulder issues all season and underwent season-ending surgery in July. His overall numbers weren't exactly terrible, but the significant drops in his K/9IP and K/BB were strong indicators that something was wrong. He is expected to be at 100 percent come the start of spring training and if all goes well, should end up in the Padres' starting rotation next year. Given the rehab and the fact that he wasn't a dominant pitcher to begin with, you should keep your expectations low.

In his first full season as a member of the Padres' rotation, Richard was a useful starter for fantasy owners. He posted a 3.75 ERA, 1.408 WHIP, 1.96 K/BB ratio and 14 wins in more than 200 innings. He improved his strikeout rate to 6.8 K/9IP, but has yet to show the kind of control he had in the minors. Owners capable of streaming him only at home would be wise to do so as he posted much better numbers at Petco Park (3.15 ERA, .227 BAA) than on the road (4.41 ERA, .308 BAA) last season.

Richard's prospect status is based on him walking 2.5 guys per nine innings in the minors, something he hasn't come close to doing in the majors. With a big body and a less-than-impressive fastball, Richard is vaguely reminiscent of Mark Hendrickson, and could well have Hendrickson's career.

The big guy looks like he should throw harder and be more dominant than he is. As it stands, Richard was way too hittable in the majors, and like a bunch of Sox pitching prospects, will have to learn how to get outs with subpar stuff in the majors. One of Richard, Lance Broadway and Jack Egbert will probably have a career, but it's hard to say which.