Twins radio announcer roasts struggling new pitcher Trevor Richards

This was a harsh yet entirely warranted zinger from play-by-play man Kris Atteberry.

Aug 2, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins pitcher Trevor Richards (32) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the ninth inning at Target Field. | Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Twins reliever Trevor Richards, the team's sole acquisition before this year's trade deadline, has gotten off to a rough start in Minnesota. After allowing two runs on three hits and three walks over two innings in Friday night's loss to the Cardinals, he has a 4.09 ERA with ten walks in 11 innings since joining the Twins.

Richards also threw two wild pitches, bringing his total to six in his short time with the Twins. He leads all of baseball with 12 wild pitches this season. The latest one, coming on a changeup that he spiked well in front of the plate, led to quite the zinger from radio announcer Kris Atteberry.

"You know, we talked about him as a two-pitch guy, Richards has been a three-pitch guy," Atteberry said. "It's been the changeup, the fastball, and the wild pitch. Because that's another one that (Ryan) Jeffers never had a chance at."

Had to grab this and sync it with the video https://t.co/60qc20NxK8 pic.twitter.com/I4K3mWKpzP

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) August 24, 2024

Earlier in that inning, Richards walked in a run with Cardinals outfielder Victor Scott II — who has a .407 OPS — at the plate.

Richards was struggling with the Blue Jays at the time of the trade, allowing the Twins to get him for very little. Predictably, his poor play has carried over. In his third outing with the Twins, he walked five Cubs hitters in less than a full inning. He hasn't allowed a run outside of two ugly outings, but all of his effective appearances have been in low-leverage spots. The Twins have not trusted him at all to pitch in meaningful situations — which makes sense, considering his lack of control.

Trevor Richards has 10 walks, 6 wild pitches, and 2 hit batters in 11 innings in a #MNTwins uniform.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 24, 2024

He's been bad, but it's not Richards' fault that he was the only player the Twins added at the deadline. All of the criticism should go towards a front office that sat on its hands despite having a team with many of the pieces to make a run in the playoffs — and towards an ownership group that has slashed payroll this year despite being worth billions of dollars.