Angels pitcher Garrett Richards inching toward return this season

Garrett Richards and the Angels are increasingly hopeful he will be fit to pitch this season. In the week after the talented right-hander was cleared to start a throwing progression, he has inched his daily games of catch farther from his partner.

“It’s better than I thought it’d be,” Richards said. “I didn’t know how it was gonna feel once I started playing catch. After I’ve been throwing for about a week now, everything just gets better and better as I throw. I’m hopeful, and I know they are, too. “

Richards has missed more than three months because of an irritated nerve in his biceps that first flared up during his first start of this season on April 5. He was returning from a rare procedure that doctors say healed a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

“Honestly, I don’t notice any difference: It just kind of feels like the first couple of weeks of picking up a ball in the offseason,” he said. “I’m not feeling anything abnormal. As far as the strength goes, that’s going to be something that goes along with throwing and continuing with my stuff. I’m really happy with where it’s at right now.”

Richards is now reaching roughly 90 feet in his throwing. He’ll step back to about 150 feet before he begins throwing off of a mound.

“I feel like I can do more,” he said. “But, obviously, we’re being cautious with it. I’d like to get to a point where I’m putting some air under it, some long toss, not only build some arm strength but also test it, as far as distance goes.”

On July 7, Richards underwent an electromyogram, which demonstrated significant improvement in the irritated area, but not yet a thorough healing of the issue. Team doctors decided to not clear him to begin throwing before reversing course a week later.

Richards said his right arm still does not feel 100% “strength-wise.” But it’s close, and he said he believes his throwing is and will continue to be unaffected.

Four injured Angels starters are working their way back with the hope of pitching this season: Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs and Andrew Heaney.

The latter three are likely closer to a return than Richards, who could conceivably be back around Sept. 1. But only he has a track record of dominance, dating to the 2014 season, so his status is vital to the Angels’ playoff hopes.

“I know that when I’m on the mound, I’m good, just as good anyone in the game,” Richards said. “I’m confident in my ability to throw a baseball whenever I come back.”

Short hops

Shoemaker played catch for the first time Friday, two weeks after he was diagnosed with posterior interosseous nerve syndrome in his injured right forearm. He said he felt great and planned to continue throwing. … Class-A right-hander Greg Belton, a 2016 draftee, was suspended 50 games for testing positive for amphetamine.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Follow Pedro Mour on Twitter @pedromoura