Indy Ball, Breweries, and Changeups Blaze Richards' Path to the Blue Jays Bullpen

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Trevor Richards sat in the shaded part of the Blue Jays bullpen, munching on sunflower seeds and spitting the shells onto the turf.

A major-league bullpen is a relaxed environment, where relief pitchers lounge around, crack jokes, and chat with one another. At one point in Tuesday’s game at TD Ballpark, multiple guys took turns whacking a fungo bat at a home run ball that landed on the protective netting above the mound area.

If your number isn’t called, the vibes are more akin to a social club than a pro sports warm-up area, but for Richards, the Jays bullpen is his new home—and it’s taken a long time for him to get settled anywhere.

Richards’ path to the big leagues is a tale with many chapters. Originally a Division-II pitcher out of Drury University in Springfield, Mo., he never had the stand-out stuff that attracted major-league scouts. As a 22-year-old, Richards turned to Independent League baseball, pitching one season for the Gateway Grizzlies, a Frontier League team near St. Louis.

A future as a pro baseball player wasn’t necessarily in the cards for Richards, who moved to Milwaukee, where his girlfriend (now wife), Aunna, was living after she finished college. In desperate need of a part-time job, a young Richards began working at the MillerCoors Brewery near what was then Miller Park.

“It’s crazy looking back on that now,” Richards told Inside The Blue Jays.

During the Indy League offseason, Richards worked in the employee beer store within MillerCoors, where he’d stock merchandise and cash out factory workers who wanted to purchase some suds after work.

“It was fun,” Richards, 28, said with a shy smile. “I liked it. Hearing all those guys coming in … I'd see the same people monthly.”

Richards' success in Indy Ball got the Marlins attention, who added him to their A-ball team in 2016. He made his major-league debut in 2018 and wound up starting 25 games for Miami with mixed results.

A year later he was on the move to Tampa Bay. Then he got traded again. And again.

“The first one's a little bit of a shock,” Richards said of his trade history. “It's a little weird at first, but then after that first one you realize that it happens a lot and guys are familiar with it.”

The Blue Jays are his fourth team in four years, making him a baseball nomad. Fellow reliever Adam Cimber knows the feeling.

“We know the bullpen life well,” said Cimber, who’s also played for four teams in four years. “That’s just part of the job.”

The Blue Jays acquired Cimber from Miami on June 29 of last season, and Toronto added Richards a week later. Since neither guy had any friends in the bullpen yet, Richards and Cimber became throwing partners.

“We shared a similar story last year, coming over midseason,” Cimber said. “It’s been fun getting to know him.”

At a time last year when Toronto’s bullpen was most desperate, the new guys stepped up. Cimber slung his way to a 1.69 ERA in 37.1 innings with the Jays, and Richards kept the ERA down to a respectable 3.31 as the duo logged leverage innings late in the season.

Thanks to his changeup, which had an outrageous 50% whiff rate in 2021, Richards has a guaranteed spot in Toronto’s bullpen for 2022. That assurance is new to him.

“I'm not one that wants to get too comfortable,” Richards said. “I feel like I was getting comfortable with Miami, and then I was gone. So, in my head, I think if I get too comfortable, I’m gone.”

It’s a delicate mental dance, but Richards finally understands his role on a major-league roster—he’ll be part of a traveling circus of arms alongside sidewinder Cimber, Canadian closer Jordan Romano, and resilient lefty Tim Mayza.

“I think that anytime you have a bullpen with a bunch of different looks, you're in good shape,” Cimber said. “I think we bring a lot of different things, and I think we complement each other well. We're a tight knit group down there.”

And Toronto’s mishmash of relievers has more to prove this season.

“We got a little bit of a chip on our shoulder from where we're coming from,” Cimber said. “Not only from a personal standpoint in different organizations and different career aspects, but I think that we all know last year we missed the playoffs by a game, and as a bullpen I think we saw a few games slip away from us.”

With that attitude in mind, Richards was amped up for his spring appearance on Tuesday against New York, though you’d never be able to tell. The right-hander doesn’t throw gas, instead he attacks the strike zone and finds ways to get outs.

Despite allowing a run in his lone inning of work, Richards looked mellow as he walked off the mound. He might have silver hair, but he keeps things stress-free—a lesson learned while drifting through different organizations, fighting different battles as he goes.

He never takes anything for granted, and, for now, he’s happy to call Toronto home.

“I just try to enjoy every day," Richards said. "That's how I got here, and that's how I’d like to stay.”