Padres' Garrett Richards: Still in mix for 2019

The Padres have been encouraged by the recent reports they've received regarding Richards' (elbow) rehab from Tommy John surgery and are increasingly optimistic that he'll be able to pitch for the big club in September, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

San Diego signed Richards to a two-year, $15.5 million deal in the offseason with the expectation that he would spend all of 2019 rehabbing from July 2018 Tommy John surgery before returning to full strength for the upcoming spring. Richards, meanwhile, had privately held out hope for making his Padres debut at the tail end of 2019, and the organization may be starting to come around to his line of thinking. The 31-year-old still has multiple obstacles to clear in the recovery process before September arrives, and it's likely he would be deployed out of the bullpen or as an opener rather than a traditional starter if he does in fact make it back from the 60-day injured list. Even in the event Richards fails to meet his goal, the fact that a 2019 return is even on the table speaks well to his progress as the one-year anniversary of his procedure nears.