Ted Williams wrote the greatest book on hitting and I wonder how many non-pitching major leaguers have read it. I always remembered from reading Ted's book how strongly the Splinter felt about using a lighter bat. Ted firmly believed in the velocity of the swing. I believe Ted employed a 31oz bat.
This actually is a Porcello-like start. Give up a bunch of runs early and then settle down. Porcello also benefited from a lot of runs by the SOX when he started. Hopefully, the SOX can extend Richards the same courtesy.
He doesn't throw; he pitches. Too bad that 2nd HR off of E-rod couldn't have been charged to Cora. But, the players like playing for Cora, and, imho, that's Cora's biggest strength as a manager.