Richards, Heaney put faith in stem-cell therapy

Garrett Richards (left) and Andrew Heaney are taking non-surgical approaches. (Getty Images)ANAHEIM -- On May 2, Steve H. Yoon, a physician at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Southern California, extracted stem cells from Andrew Heaney's bone marrow and injected them into the damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. Fourteen days later, Yoon did the same with Garrett Richards.

Now the Angels' two best, most promising starting pitchers are left to wait, and hope.

If the stem-cell therapy works, Heaney and Richards will be lined up to pitch for a full season in 2017 and may even be able to contribute toward the end of this very summer. If it doesn't, they will undergo Tommy John…