The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS he continues to work toward another opportunity in the Major Leagues, Antoan Richardson’s play has garnered support from several minor league beat writers in the Minneapolis area.

Richardson, now a member of the Rochester Red Wings, has made an early impact with the top minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins and his efforts have attracted attention.

In an article titled “Minnesota Twins Should Promote Little-Known Antoan Richardson” Yahoo Sports contributor Darin McGilvra outlined the reasons he felt the versatile outfielder deserved a callup to the major leagues.

In 21 games with the Red Wings, Richardson has hit .306 with an on-base percentage of .468, scored 15 runs, with seven RBI and eight stolen bases.

Richardson, who played in nine games for the Atlanta Braves in 2011, was called to the Red Wings from their Double-A Eastern League’s New Britain Rock Cats in May.

McGilvra said he believes Richardson deserves a chance to show the Twins what he can do at the major league level.

“What most people who even heard about this signing failed to realise is that Richardson has excelled at the most important skill in baseball: not making outs. This is also known as the ability to reach base,” he said.

“Richardson is listed at 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds. He has no power and hasn’t hit for all that good of an average. And yet, Richardson has a career on-base percentage over .400 in over 800 minor league games.”

Richardson’s strength during his career has been his on-base percentage, the strength of his game which should grant him a major league opportunity.

“Meanwhile, the Twins’ leadoff batters have a .240 OBP, which is dead last in the American League,” McGilvra said.

“Sometimes when a player has success but isn’t rewarded with a promotion, it is because there are concerns about him making the transition to the higher level. This is often because a batter strikes out too much. In this case, Richardson’s career strikeout rate of less than 18 per cent is a little less than the current 19 per cent rate in the American League. He would give the Twins a legitimate option for a leadoff batter and a true backup center fielder.

“Richardson also has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.24, which is about half of the average in the American League. While he never was considered a top prospect, Richardson deserves to show what he can do at the next level. The Twins have too many players that make too many outs. Richardson could be just what the Twins need to jump-start a struggling offense.”

Phil Miller of Baseball America called Richardson a “pleasant surprise” for the Twins in his latest column.

“Richardson could have been a mere place-holder, winding down his career at his fourth different Double-A stop. Instead, he played his way to a promotion in a little over a month.

He got the Twins’ attention by hitting .336/.456/.403 in 119 at-bats with Double-A New Britain, the sixth time in his nine minor league seasons that his OBP has reached .398 or higher. He was promoted to Triple-A Rochester in mid-May and kept getting on base, drawing 21 walks in his first 20 games while hitting .299/.472/.403 in 67 at-bats,” Miller said, “With 295 career stolen bases, and a .402 career OBP, Richardson stands out, especially since Minnesota leadoff hitters had been a .188/.233/.229 disaster in the season’s first two months.”

Richardson currently leads the Red Wings in on-base percentage, is second in stolen bases and is third in batting average.

The Red Wings set to continue their weekend series against the Gwinett Braves before moving on to a home-and-away series against Toledo.