The Miami Marlins (7-17) surprised the Los Angeles Dodgers (11-12) on Wednesday. Although the hosts competed with their star pitcher Clayton Kershaw, it was the Ace of the Marlins – a former teacher and brewer – who convinced.
Trevor Richards was sent on a Mound of the MLB for the first time at the beginning of April and stole the show from Kershaw at the end of the series against the favored Dodgers. With ten strikeouts at three walks in just 4 2/3 innings, the 24-year-old made the best start in his MLB career to date.
“We just couldn’t see through him,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. His counterpart Don Mattingly was impressed: “Trevor was really good today. That’s exactly what we needed.”
“I just focused on attacking the zone early and throwing a lot of strikes,” Richards said. “We tried to get her off balance.”
While no team brought home a runner in the first four innings, the Marlins took a 3-0 lead with a home run by shortstop Miguel Rojas. Previously, Kershaw (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 7 K) gave up two walks, with six of which he set his career negative value.
“I really wasn’t good,” Kershaw said. “A lot of people came on base. That was really not a good game of mine.” The Marlins won 8-6, thanks in particular to a strong performance by Richards, who won the duel against Kershaw.
Richards played for the University of Drury in Springfield a few years ago, but couldn’t convince an MLB franchise with a fast ball that only reached 90 miles per hour. He was ignored in the draft and therefore hired grizzlies from the Gateway, who play their home games in the 159-people village of Sauget in Illinois.
“I enjoyed my time in the Frontier League,” Richards told the Miami Herald. “There wasn’t much going on during the week, maybe a little more on weekends when there were fireworks.”
During the offseason Richards earned his living in a brewery. A little later he was engaged as a substitute teacher in primary school and made a decision about two years ago: if none of the large teams in Sauget should report by the end of the season, he would follow his degree in criminology and look for a job in law enforcement.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I had already looked around for jobs,” said Richards.
David Espinosa, Scout for the Marlins, made sure it wouldn’t happen. Although he wanted to watch two reliefs of the opposing team, Espinosa was particularly enthusiastic about Richard’s repertoire in a Grizzlies game against the Evansville Otters. “His changeup was an anomaly,” Espinosa remembered.
While changeups are generally thrown with less rotation than a fastball, that of Richards showed little difference. The hitters had even bigger problems to distinguish the two pitches.
Shortly after Espinosa observed the right-hander, a pitching position in the Marlin farm system became available. Richards signed a short-term contract without collecting a single dollar for it, the Marlins only transferred $3,000 to the Grizzlies. Within a few months, Richards worked his way up to the Double-A team in Jacksonville.
Richards finally found a place in the Marlin roster for the start of the 2018 season. “Usually, Indy League players don’t move up that fast,” Espinosa said. “But he did everything he could to get that opportunity.” Richards has already taken advantage of the opportunity to make one of the best pitchers in the league look old.