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“I was a fan of baseball my whole life, watched many many Cardinals games growing up,” Trevor Richards said.
And April 2018, former Drury Panther Trevor Richards made his MLB debut with the Miami Marlins.
“It’s kind of surreal and one of those things you always dream about,” Richards said.
Now as a Tampa Bay Ray, he’s back to dreaming — along with the league — as the Coronavirus continues to push back the season.
“When spring training got cancelled nobody really knew what to do. Some people went home, some people went to Tampa. People kind of went everywhere,” said Richards.
And Trevor Richards came back to southwest Missouri where he continues to train for the season.
“Just working out, throwing every day, lifting, getting on the mound, bullpens, just trying to stay as ready as I can without throwing games every day,” Richards said.
But, he’s not doing it alone, he’s joined by another former Drury baseball player Ricky Meinhold, now the pitching coordinator for the NY Mets.
“Obviously I don’t play anymore, but I throw every day — I need to throw every day, so yeah, we just connected it’s pretty cool,” Meinhold said.
They didn’t play at Drury at the same time, and they’re not at the same club now; they’re just two Panthers trying to keep in shape through a pandemic.
“He gears up, plays bullpens, catches every day. It’s good,” Richards said.
“You’re not worried about being in different organizations?” KY3 Reporter Taylor Kauffman asked. “That’s a funny question because my boss said the same thing, and I’m like, I need to stay sharp and the only person here works for another organization,” Meinhold said.
In this extended off season the two are helping each other in more ways than one.
“We get to hang out with each other, and that’s something that keeps us sane because we’re normally on the field with a bunch of guys doing what we do,” said Meinhold.
