Marlins Trevor Richards working on new pitches this spring

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Richards is working on a curve ball and cutter to add to his arsenal this spring.

Trevor Richards knows he must be a better pitcher this season after a less than spectacular rookie year with the Miami Marlins. While the 25-year-old is known for his plus changeup that fooled many a batter last season, he is working to add a changeup and a cutter to his array of pitches during Spring Training.

With many arms looking to claim two spots in the Marlins rotation, adding more pitches which are effective can only help Richards crack the starting five this season.

He is still a work in progress for this organization.

“We’ll go mainly fastball, curveball, changeup,” Richards said via MLB.com. “And we’re toying with a fourth one, but we’ll see how that one comes along.”

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After a 4-9 campaign with a respectable 4.42 ERA in his first year in Miami, there is a chance these pitches could flip the script. His record does not indicate how he improved as the season progressed and Trevor Richards was the only pitcher in the starting rotation of the opening series against the Chicago Cubs who did not spend time on the disabled list last season.

That bodes well for his chances this season.

The idea to add pitches while maintaining his changeup and fastball was first brought up by pitching coach Mel Stottlemyer, Jr. Trevor Richards liked the idea and made it part of his offseason routine. Now, he is introducing it to opposing hitters.

“I was trying to figure out whether a slider or curveball, which one I should throw because they’re different for me,” Richards said.

The Marlins are set with their first three starters in Jose Urena, Dan Straily and Wei-Yin Chen. After that, Richards and as many as five other arms are in tight competition. Sandy Alcantara figures to be the fourth arm in the rotation with Richards competiting with Pablo Lopez, Caleb Smith and potentially Nick Neidert for the No. 5 role. But since it is still spring and a lot of baseball to be played between now and Opening Day, anything is possible.

Per Joe Frisaro, “The changeup was his out pitch in 2018. Against the pitch, hitters batted .165 and struck out 36.3 percent of the time. Without an effective third pitch, hitters eventually waited on Richards’ fastball, and hit .310 off his four-seamer, with a 17.9 percent strikeout rate.”

With a third and possibly a fourth pitch in the bag, Richards could solidify himself as the fifth starter and most underrated pitcher on the Marlins staff