PEORIA, Ariz. Clayton Richard was working on a two-hit shutout in San Francisco last July 4 when a strange thing happened to arguably the Padres' most athletic pitcher.
“I couldn’t throw the ball,” remembers Richard.
Of course, he meant he couldn’t throw the ball like he was used to throwing it.
“No, I pretty much couldn’t throw it,” said Richard. “Nothing was happening.”
Richard did not return to the mound in 2011. A short time later, he had surgery to make repairs to the labrum in the shoulder plus the biceps tendon as well as removing a bursa sac.
Richard spent the last half of 2011 preparing for the start of 2012.
But as spring training opened here Monday, Richard had the green light to start throwing as if it were any other season.
“I had a very normal off-season,” Richard said, meaning he likely put more time into training than any two of his other teammates combined.
“I worked out, I completed my normal throwing program without a problem. I feel great. I’m here like it was any other February.”
But it’s not. A healthy Richard is one of the Padres' top weapons. But given the scope of his surgery, he is a bit of a question mark at the moment.
“We’re going to keep an eye on Clayton while going through the regular spring progression,” Padres manager Bud Black said Monday morning.
The health of the 28-year-old left-hander could be critical to the Padres' hopes of improving on their 2012 record.
The Padres' rotation is already without two mainstays of 2011 – Mat Latos and Aaron Harang. And although there is depth down through some promising prospects in the minors, the rotation is not packed with proven front-line starters.
When asked to describe Richard last season, Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said: “Dependable and solid all the way around.” That was before Richard had the surgery.
During the Padres' 90-win season of 2010, Latos and Jon Garland dominated the headlines. Richard simply was a solid contributor, going 14-9 with a 3.75 earned run average. The Padres won 20 of his starts.
The Padres believe Richard can bounce back from the surgery and again be the pitcher he was in 2010 because of the work ethic of the 6-foot-5, former University of Michigan quarterback.
Richard can’t tell you how long he works out every day. He can’t quote his weight or his percent of body fat.
“Working out is something I do to give me the best opportunity to succeed at what I am doing,” he said of his routine, which includes harnessing himself to a weighted sled and pulling it across the grass.
“I know it is working when I feel good . . . feel like I want to feel.”
Richard is not new to his routine. He and a group of friends developed their program while in high school in Lafayette, Ind. The group of four regulars numbers a SWAT team member, an Arena Football League player and two professional baseball players.