Righter goes from D3 to Double-A

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - So what is a Division III baseball product doing at the Double-A level, just two steps from the major leagues?

Very well, thank you, says Johns Hopkins graduate Matthew Righter.

“There is some good Division III baseball, and a lot of times they don't get a lot of credit,” said Righter, 25, a right-handed pitcher for the Double-A Erie (Pa.) Seawolves of the Eastern League. “Division III doesn't get the credit it should.”

Righter is certainly helping to put small college baseball on the map.

The 6-foot-5 hurler began this season with Single-A Lakeland in the Florida State League, where he was 2-1 with a 5.18 ERA in 10 games, with two starts.

He was promoted May 18 to Erie, a farm team of the Detroit Tigers, where he was 2-1 with an ERA of 1.93 in nine games (with one start) prior to Wednesday's contest in Bowie. Righter, in his first 23.1 innings with Erie, allowed 19 hits and eight walks with 15 strikeouts.

“He is a tall, lean kid. He has done well for us since coming off the surgery he had,” Dan Lunetta, director of minor league operations for the Tigers, said of the Tommy John procedure Righter had after the 2005 season. “He has a decent fastball with some pretty good sink.”

Righter has benefited from the amazing story of Erie teammate Alan Mills, 40, who last played in the Major Leagues with the Orioles in 2001.

The Tigers signed Mills and assigned him to Erie on June 5, and in games through Tuesday he was 0-0 with an ERA of 1.35.

“Gosh, he's great. What a great guy to have around,” said Righter, standing outside the Erie clubhouse after Tuesday's game in Bowie. “He has helped me out with my breaking ball. I try to listen to him as much as I can.”

Righter throws a two- and four-steam fastball between 88 and 93 mph, with a curve and change up.

What would he be doing if he wasn't playing pro baseball?

“With an International Relations degree? My dad is a coach. But I want to play in the big leagues for 14 years,” Righter said, with a laugh.

“I actually probably never saw myself not playing a sport. After college I was hoping to continue [with sports], and fortunately it was with the Tigers.”

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