Padres extend Clayton Richard

Breaking news from the Padres on the starting five front:

Clayton Richard will remain a Padre with a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2019 season.

The 34-year-old lefty has been a stalwart for the Padres rotation, pitching 185 innings in 30 starts with a few of those being full 9-inning affairs. The 9-season veteran has seen action as both a starting pitcher and prior to becoming a Padre a bullpen piece. Most notable of Richard’s talents are the groundball (1st in ground balls induced) and pickoffs (8, first in MLB). Clayton is also tied for first in the National League in inducing GIDPs with 29.

Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images

Though his win-loss (7-14) and ERA aren’t sterling (4.82 ERA), Clayton has done the job as a veteran presence in the locker room and a pitcher willing to take the ball every 5th day. Though probably not in the full plans for the (hopefully) upcoming waves of talent to push the Padres into the postseason, the signing should at least solidify one spot in the rotation in what will be a couple more years of development for the Major League product.