Trevor Richards has a chance to become the Marlins ace

Trevor Richards showed on Friday night he has the stuff to become the ace of the Miami Marlins pitching staff. The right-hander was dominant on the mound in a 6-1 loss to Colorado.

Last season, Trevor Richards was a rookie looking to establish himself as a fixture in the Miami Marlins rotation. This season, the 25-year-old is looking to become the ace of the staff.

After a solid performance on Friday, which resulted in a no-decision, the right-hander continued to show the coaching staff, front office and opponents he has the arsenal that could make him a dominant starter in the National League.

Trevor Richards pitched six innings on Friday night while striking out four batters and allowing only one run on four hits. He had two walks for the game. It was the Marlins in ability to get on base that did him in. It’s a continuing saga of sorts. Last season there were times when Richards and other Marlins starters pitched masterfully, only to be let down by the bullpen and the starting lineup.

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While the rotation is supposed to be a strength of the team, Richards and his cohorts cannot afford for their batters in front of him to let the staff down.

The Marlins will face the Colorado Rockies once again this evening at 6:10 PM as Pablo Lopez goes to the mound with the hope of giving the team their first victory of the 2019 season.

Manager Don Mattingly is counting on Trevor Richards, Lopez, Caleb Smith and Sandy Alcantara to complement Jose Urena, who dropped the opening game of the season on Thursday night. The Marlins are taking a huge chance by going with an inexperienced starting five. Richards could shock everybody and become an all star or even a Cy Young candidate if he were to continue the trend of dominating batters and the Marlins win games to compliment what happens on the mound.

This is still a pitching staff with plenty of promise as Joe Frisaro of MLB.com points out.

“The last time the Marlins had this many promising, young arms was in 2006, with a rotation fronted by Dontrelle Willis and featuring then-rookies Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez,” he wrote.

Still green by Major League standards, Urena leads the team in experience, but the hunger of these neophytes will serve the organization well for years to come.  Of the group, Richards made 25 starts a year ago, while Smith had 16, Lopez 10 and Alcantara six.

That all figures to change this coming season as pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, Jr is tasked with turning this quintet into a winning combination. It’s also an organization with depth on the Double-A and Triple-A level.

“The Marlins currently have more organizational starting depth than in 2006,” writes Frisaro. “Their Triple-A New Orleans rotation will feature prospects Nick Neidert, Zac Gallen, Jordan Yamamoto, Hector Noesi and maybe Elieser Hernandez or Brett Graves. At Double-A Jacksonville, the rotation will feature Jorge Guzman, Sixto Sanchez (who will likely open in extended spring), Robert Dugger, Graves or Hernandez, if they aren’t in Triple-A, and Cody Poteet.”