Five reasons to love the Los Angeles Angels this season

2. Garrett Richards.

The ace is back, AL West beware. Garrett Richards missed a large portion of the 2016 season with an elbow injury. He opted for stem-cell therapy rather than TJ surgery. The therapy worked to perfection as Richards will likely be named the Opening Day starter for the second straight season.

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With the Jered Weaver era at its end, Richards is the feature to the act of the Angels starting pitching staff. The most interesting thing about Richards this season will be his health. I expect the issue will largely be under a microscope.

Richards is the key to the pitching staff. When he went down last season, the wheels fell off of the Angels rotation. Now, the Angels are healthy. The only two players on the DL are Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano. While they aren’t due back until 2018, the Angels should have enough to win games, especially with Richards 100%.