Joey Rickard

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Joseph Mark Rickard

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Biographical Information[edit]

Outfielder Joey Rickard made his major league debut in 2016 after being selected in the 2015 Rule V Draft.

Rickard's high school won state titles all four years he was there. He was All-State the last three years, hitting .554 with 29 steals as a senior while posting a 1.92 ERA with over a strikeout per inning. As a college freshman in 2010, he hit .307/.365/.471 with 51 RBI in 58 games. He was 8th in the Pac-10 Conference in RBI. His sophomore season, he batted .347/.410/.448. He was second in the Pac-10 with 86 hits (two behind Tony Renda), tied Zack MacPhee for 4th in runs (49), was 4th with 16 steals and ranked 5th with 111 total bases.

As a junior, Joey produced at a .320/.397/.413 clip, stole 18 bases in 24 tries and scored 60 runs in 61 contests. He was 4th in the conference (now the Pac-12 Conference) in runs, tied for 7th in hits (83), tied for 6th in doubles (1) and led in steals. He made the All-Conference outfield. He hit .261/.320/.304 in the 2012 College World Series but made the All-Series Outfield as Arizona won the title; the other All-Series picks in the outfield were Rob Refsnyder and Evan Marzilli.

The Tampa Bay Rays took Rickard in the 9th round of the 2012 amateur draft; the scout was Jayson Durocher. He hit .279/.371/.372 as the regular center fielder for the Hudson Valley Renegades that summer. With the 2013 Bowling Green Hot Rods, he batted .270/.390/.409 with 78 walks, 79 runs and 30 steals in 40 tries. He was 6th in the Midwest League in OBP (between Dario Pizzano and Leonardo Reginatto), tied for 4th in runs and was 4th in walks. Among Rays farmhands, only Kevin Kiermaier had more runs, he tied Tyler Goeddel for 4th in swipes and was 4th in walks.

He hit .287/.352/.421 for the Brisbane Bandits in the 2013-2014 Australian Baseball League; he pilfered 14 bags while only being nabbed twice, finishing 4th in the ABL in steals. In reduced action with the '14 Montgomery Biscuits, he slipped to .243/.337/.296 with just 9 steals (in 13 tries) in 68 games. In 2015, he bounced between the Charlotte Stone Crabs (.268/.436/.310 in 23 G), Montgomery (.322/.420/.479 in 65 G) and the Durham Bulls (.360/.437/.472 in 29 G). He had 8 triples (tied for 3rd in the Rays chain with Dayron Varona) and 23 steals in 31 tries (tied with Braxton Lee for 5th in the Rays chain in swipes). His 69 walks led Rays farmhands, 8 more than runner-up Boog Powell).

The Baltimore Orioles took him in the 2015 Rule 5 Draft. He was the second outfielder Tampa Bay lost in the draft, as Goeddel had been the top pick. He started in left field on Opening Day, April 4, 2016, hitting 9th against the Minnesota Twins. He singled off Ervin Santana in his first at-bat and doubled off Casey Fien in his second, then scored on a Adam Jones hit. He was retired the next two times but had made a fine debut in the majors. He played 85 games in his rookie season, hitting .268 with 5 homers and 19 RBIs in 257 at-bats while backing up all three outfield spots. In 2017, he played 111 games and hit .241 with 4 homers and 19 RBIs once again as the O's fourth outfielder. He started the 2018 season in the minors however, hitting. 301 in 27 games for the Norfolk Tides. He was briefly called up to Baltimore for a couple of games in late April, and then again on May 13th. That day, he had the best game of his career against his former team, the Rays, hitting 2 homers and driving in 4 runs in a 17-1 rout.

Rickard's brother, John Rickard, played two seasons in the minors.

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jeff Seidel: "Orioles, Blue Jays find gems through Rule 5 draft", USA Today Sports, April 27, 2016. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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