ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The Los Angeles Angels returned home from a brutal 0-9 trip, the latest indignity in a lost season in which so much has gone wrong, to a rare treat: some good news.
Garrett Richards, who suffered a season-ending tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in early May, was cleared to throw on Monday after imaging tests and an examination showed "significant improvement" in his elbow since his last evaluation in late-June.
The hard-throwing right-hander, who opted for stem-cell therapy instead of a ligament-replacement surgery that could have sidelined him for most of next season, made 25 throws at 45 feet, the start of a six-week program that, if there are no setbacks, will have him throwing on a mound by late September.
Richards, the team's top starter, hopes to pitch in Arizona Fall League games or in simulated games in October. If all goes well, he could be ready for the start of spring training in February.
"It's kind of crazy how far it's come in a short amount of time," Richards said. "I've put myself in position to give myself every chance for this to be successful. I can lay my head down at night knowing I did everything I possibly could."
A 2017 rotation would look far different _ and much better _ with Richards, who is 29-19 with a 3.11 earned-run average since the start of 2014, at the top of it. But the Angels know there are plenty of hurdles to clear before they can declare Richards their ace for next season.
"I'm cautiously optimistic," General Manager Billy Eppler said. "I want to see how he goes through his long-toss progression and bullpen sessions. When he does that, I'll feel better. I'm trying to rein in any overt optimism that we can pencil him in for 2017, but I do feel better about it today than I did yesterday."
Richards and left-hander Andrew Heaney, who tore an elbow ligament in early April, both received stem-cell injections from Dr. Steve Yoon in Los Angeles, Heaney in April and Richards in May. Heaney did not respond as well and decided to have Tommy John surgery on July 1. Richards' elbow fared much better.
"As far as (Dr. Yoon) is concerned, this has been a remarkable turnaround," said Richards, who hadn't thrown a baseball since May 2 in Milwaukee. "I couldn't hope for anything better. It's moving in the right direction. From what it looked like before to what it looks like now, it's pretty amazing.
"If this happened later in the summer, I don't know that I would have been able to take this step. I probably would have had surgery. I'm very fortunate that it happened when it happened."
Even if Richards returns in 2017, the Angels will need to bolster their rotation this winter, but Eppler would at least have a nucleus of Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs and Ricky Nolasco from which to build.
"Getting him back would make filling some of the other spots a little easier," manager Mike Scioscia said. "You can never bank on a player coming back, but the fact that Garrett has shown so much progress definitely makes us more optimistic about the five guys we'll have in our rotation next year.
"It's nice to get a bit of good news for a change. We're excited about it. Hopefully today will be a big step forward in his rehabilitation."
