The Triple-A baseball season has already begun, but the rest of the minor leagues have yet to get on the field. This weekend starts up competition for level Double-A and below, marking an exciting time with a full slate of baseball ahead.
One addition to the Minnesota Twins' farm this season is within their coaching staff. With Double-A Wichita, the organization hired Stephen Ridings as a pitching coach. Ridings has experience at every level, including a brief stint in the big leagues with the Yankees. With a few top prospects starting out in Double-A like No. 19 Ryan Gallagher and No. 22 C.J. Culpepper, it will be interesting to see how Ridings will help their development.
But before we figure out what kind of pitching coach that Ridings will become, let's take a trip down memory land to reminisce on his past.
Twins' minor league pitching coach Stephen Ridings had brief, but glorious MLB stint in 2021
An eighth round draft pick in 2016, Ridings did not reach the majors until 2021. Ridings threw his fastball and sinker exceptionally hard, and even saw it reach triple digits from time to time.
Ridings made his debut on August 3 against the Orioles, tossing one scoreless frame. All three outs came via strikeout. Dominant, memorable, and considering he only pitched in the big leagues four more times, it was straight up iconic.
3 Ks for Stephen Ridings in his 1st inning in the Bigs.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 4, 2021
Congrats, @ridings17 👊 pic.twitter.com/5R6zDo3TJk
Ridings would appear in five total games for the Yankees spanning two weeks. In five innings, he struck out seven batters and allowed one earned run. Legend.
Ridings actually found the most success at the Double-A level. He threw at every level, but in Double-A, he owned a 0.45 ERA across 20 innings, striking out 32 batters. So if anyone knows how much it means to succeed in Double-A, it's Ridings, who officially retired last May. Hopefully he has plenty of wisdom to impart on the Twins' minor leaguers.