A former Miner I knew I’d see in the majors

Summer after summer, as I sit at Hermon Brothers Field watching the Mat-Su Miners, I always tend to wonder which players I might see in the Major Leagues someday, which players I might see on ESPN.

In 2008, as I sat at Hermon Brothers Field and watched Garrett Richards pitch. I thought, “There’s a guy I’ll see in the Major Leagues someday. There’s a guy I’ll see on ESPN.”

And sure enough, Wednesday night, I watched Richards make his Major League debut on ESPN.

In the nine seasons covering the Miners for the Frontiersman, I’ve seen a handful of guys who have already hit the big time.

There’s infielder Jed Lowrie, who’s now with the Boston Red Sox. And there’s pitcher Marc Rzepcynski, who was recently traded from Toronto to St. Louis.

Catcher John Hester (Arizona), pitcher Daniel Stange (Arizona) and outfielder Matt Young (Atlanta) are also players I’ve watched go from Hermon Brothers to Big League ballparks.

It’s tough to really know who will reach the highest level baseball has to offer. There were a few players who were almost unreal in Alaska.

In 2004, Chris Malone seemed unstoppable on the mound. He was a perfect 6-0, with a 1.99 earned run average and struck out 56 hitters in 54 innings.

He tossed a no-hitter that season, and the then-San Joaquin Delta Community College pitcher skipped a chance to play Division I baseball to sign a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I thought for sure I’d see Malone pitching on national TV by now. But he was released by the Toronto organization in June.

Chris Mason, also on that 2004 team, was another. He was just about as good as Malone that season, finishing 7-1 with 56 strikeouts and a 2.09 ERA. In one of the most memorable games during my time covering this team, Mason pitched a complete game four-hitter to lead the Miners to a win over the Alaska Goldpanners on the final day of the regular season. It was a win that clinched the ABL title for the Miners. I can still remember the Mason fist pump on the mound after the final out as Miners general manager Pete Christopher rushed the field.

Mason reached Triple-A in the Tampa Rays system, and has since pitched in Japan. But I thought for sure he would have been part of the Rays’ starting five by now.

On the flipside, Lowrie didn’t exactly blow the doors off of Hermon Brothers during the summer of 2003. Obviously, the infielder was good. He came to Palmer as a highly touted Stanford product. But after arriving to the team late, Lowrie hit only .211 with three extra-base hits in 26 games.

But only five years later, Lowrie made his debut with the Red Sox.

I’m still waiting for outfielder Michael Taylor to break into the bigs. He was a beast for the Miners in 2005. This season, Taylor’s playing well for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, hitting .297 with 13 home runs and 10 stolen bases, and can hopefully crack the Oakland A’s roster.

But Richards beat Taylor to the show. There was always something about the Oklahoma kid, something it didn’t take a baseball purist to see. Even the layman could tell this kid had something.

The University of Oklahoma product had a live arm when he hit the Valley. He was a closer as a freshman with the Sooners and saved a team-high nine games. But as a sophomore, he saw his ERA balloon to 6.97. Like many power pitchers at that level, he had the heat — a fastball that touched the high 90s — but the control was not always there.

Richards struggled during his early days with the Miners, but worked closely with head coach Conor Bird and pitching coach Ryan Heil. Later in the summer, he developed a slider and his transformation to a top pro prospect was almost instant.

“It’s solely mechanics,” Richards told me after he tossed a shutout during a win over the Athletes in Action in 2008. “My mechanics when I first got up here to now are totally different. It makes pitching so much easier when everything moves really smooth. Coach Heil has been working with me on mechanics. I think that was the only thing holding me back.”

Bird saw the great potential in the flame-throwing righty.

“That’s as close to a Major League pitcher you’re going to see up here,” Bird told me.

Richards sported modest numbers with the Miners. He was 2-1 with 23 strikeouts and a 3.42 ERA. But he became a touted player, named the ABL’s top professional prospect by Perfect Game.

Richards hit 97 in Alaska, and reportedly touched 100 while pitching in Double-A earlier this season.

He was selected No. 42 of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels, and quickly became one of the organization’s prized prospects. In rookie ball, Richards was 3-1 with 30 strikeouts and a 1.53 ERA.

He fanned 149 hitters in 149 innings, and was 12-5 while splitting time in Single-A and High-A in 2010. This year, in the Double-A Texas League, Richards was 12-2 with 100 strikeouts in 141 innings with the Arkansas Travelers.

Richards’ debut Wednesday night wasn’t exactly ideal. He made his first career start against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs and six hits. But after a rocky first inning — the Yankees’ Curtis Granderson belted a 3-run homer off Richards in the first inning before the Angels recorded an out — Richards settled down a bit.

He showed some of the power his right arm has and fanned Derek Jeter to record his first career strikeout.

But despite his first start, there’s a bright future for Richards. He’s one former Miner we should be watching in the Majors for years to come.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.