A Year in Retrospect with Scott Richmond

(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

By now, you've probably already heard the story of how Scott Richmond overcame all odds and made his way into the major leagues by winning a spot in the starting rotation spot with the Toronto Blue Jays.

While that particular anecdote was penciled back in May, it turns out that the Scott Richmond story wasn't even close to being over; not by a long shot.

Since then, Richmond has remained as one of the core members of the starting rotation and hopes to contend once again for one of the open spots in 2010. I had the pleasure of talking with the Blue Jays starting pitcher about this year's success and the lessons he learned from his rookie year as a Blue Jay.

First of all, congratulations on your first full season in the major leagues. What would you say is the biggest thing you learned this year?

Pitching to contact—plain and simple. As a starting pitcher in the big leagues you have been entrusted with the responsibility to go deep into the game on a regular basis in order to avoid over taxing the bullpen.

The longer you’re in the game and executing well, the better are your team’s chances to secure a win, because the set up men and the closer can just go out there and do their jobs and aren’t expected to pull off miracles night after night.

From a personal level for a starting pitcher, that’s what makes Roy Halladay so good. He goes deep into games and whether it’s a win or a loss, he’s always getting decisions because he’s not leaving the bullpen to get 10 outs. You have to try to go seven to eight innings, and the only way to do that is to pitch to contact to keep your pitch count down.

You were one of the anchors in the starting rotation this year, which was very rookie-dominant. Being one of the new guys can be stressful, and there were a lot of you who were in the same boat. Were there any teammates in particular that you bonded with?

Ricky Romero and I were really close all year. We started together in spring training and we both knew there were two spots open in the rotation and we had to battle out nine guys to try to win those spots.

We ended up living together in Toronto for the whole year and we tried to learn from each other, but we supported and pushed each other at the same time.

This year, it seemed like you started to rely more on your curveball and it worked out fairly well for you. What did you and Brad Arnsberg work on in the offseason?

I’ve always been a strike thrower and I always try to pound the strike zone. With lefties, my changeup was pretty suspect all year so I was really trying to establish that some games.

Overall, he (Arnsberg) wanted me to be aggressive in the strike zone. That’s the whole thing as a rookie pitcher; you’re a little cautious of pitching to contact. When you’re ahead in the count, you try to strike everybody out and guess what? The Red Sox and the Yankees, they spit on those pitches when they’re out of the strike zone.

If you’re not careful, you can find yourself with the pitch count at a hundred, and you’re still in the fifth inning. He really taught me to stay competitive in the strike zone and not give in at any point.

With rookies on the mound, the umpires sometimes tend to squeeze the strike zone. When you’re not getting the same calls as the opposing pitcher, how do you deal with it?

For some reason, it’s always been a part of the game for as long as I’ve been aware, sort of like a rookie initiation into the big leagues, but everyone has to endure it. It can be very frustrating and difficult not to let it affect you to some degree, especially when the missed calls end up having an effect on the score line, and possibly the outcome of the game.

As the pitcher, you have to learn to deal with it, and do your best not to let it get to you, or show the ump that you’re upset, so in some ways maybe it tends to make you tougher.

Being in the American League East means the Blue Jays face the cream of the crop in the American League quite often. Who would you say was the toughest hitter that you faced this year?

It’s no fun facing Jacoby Ellsbury; he’s a good and patient hitter and he hits for power and he’s got the speed when he’s on base.

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