Scott Richmond
| IP | 169 |
|---|---|
| ERA | 5.272 |
| WHIP | 1.45 |
| BB/9 | 3.249 |
| SO/9 | 7.402 |
- Full name Scott Daniel Richmond
- Born 08/30/1979 in North Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Profile Ht.: 6'5" / Wt.: 220 / Bats: R / Throws: R
- School Oklahoma State
- Debut 07/30/2008
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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Few recent players have faced longer odds of making it to the big leagues than Richmond, whose journey included stops in the Moose Jaw, Sask., amateur ranks and with the independent Edmonton Cracker-Cats. His high school in Aldergrove, B.C., didn't offer baseball, so Richmond instead played summer ball in western Canada. After high school, he worked at various Vancouver shipyards for three years before enrolling at Missouri Valley College, an NAIA program, at age 22. He transferred to Bossier Parish (La.) CC a year later and then to Oklahoma State. An all-Big 12 Conference honorable mention selection as a senior in 2005, he went undrafted because he already was 25. Richmond ultimately signed with Edmonton of the Northern League because securing a work visa to pitch professionally in the United States posed a challenge. After he spent two years as a reliever and a third as a starter with the Cracker-Cats, the Blue Jays signed Richmond out of a Northern League tryout in November 2007, noting his ideal pitcher's build and long, loose delivery. He broke into affiliated ball in April at Double-A New Hampshire and made his big league debut on July 30, vicitimizing Evan Longoria for his first strikeout. Had he not been called up, Richmond was slated to be Team Canada's ace in the Olympics. He attacks batters with a low-90s sinker and a hard cut slider at 85-87 mph, and he's much tougher on righthanders than lefthanders. His changeup is average at times, but his curveball is a bit loopy and rates as below-average. If he can improve his changeup, he'd have a fighting chance against lefties. Richmond picks things up quickly, but he gets in trouble when he elevates his pitches because he doesn't have overpowering stuff. He threw nothing but strikes with the Blue Jays, and he shut out the Orioles for six innings in his final start of 2008 to earn his first big league victory. He could factor into the back of Toronto's rotation in 2009.
