LI native Stephen Ridings' longtime private pitching coach saw future greatness for the Yankee

For Yankees rookie reliever Stephen Ridings, it was always about the ceilings. Yes, at 6 feet, 8 inches, he may have hit a few in his time, but those around him knew that his baseball ceiling could be far away from the fields of Commack, where he grew up, or St. Anthony’s High School, where he pitched on the varsity team for two seasons.

The bigger question was, could he corral that large frame and put it all together? That was far from a certainty.

"He wasn’t the greatest player when he was younger," said Jon DeMarco, a former travel and high school teammate. "He was definitely the tallest, but not necessarily the kid that you picked out and said ‘he’s going to be a major leaguer’…When we were 15, I did not see him pitching for the Yankees."

But, Rob Steinert knew. Steinert, who met Ridings when he was 11 and has been his private pitching coach for 14 years, never doubted that the righthander was destined for great things. He was proven right on Tuesday night as Ridings looked right at home in the Bronx, striking out three in the seventh in his major league debut, hitting 100 MPH with gusto.

"I believed in that boy from the time he was 13 or 14 years old," Steinert said. "…He’s like my son. It’s amazing to see this all happen. I never doubted him for a second. I was telling people for years ‘be careful what you say about him. You’re going to ask him for tickets one day.’"

Not everyone was on board right away, Steinert said. A ‘tall and gawky’ teenager, it was hardly a safe bet that Ridings was a future successful college player, let alone a Yankee.

"He wasn’t always the best player, but you knew that there was something special behind his build and his work ethic," said DeMarco, 26, of Centereach. "Size, talent, athleticism, work ethic, he had everything. It was just figuring out how to put them all together. If he did, he was going to be one of the best players that you’ll ever see."

"He always had great velocity," said John Phelan, who was the head coach at St. Anthony’s when Ridings played there. "He had a very good senior year. He struggled a little bit in his junior year, but he did very well in his senior year."

Phelan described Ridings as "quietly competitive," and who was extremely disciplined.

"He was very analytical," Phelan said. "He struck to his regimen and his routine."

Steinert said that Ridings began to turn a corner early in his college career. While playing at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, he had success in a summer league start. A lightbulb went off.

"He was hitting 89 (mph) consistently and struck out 14 guys," Steinert said of the start. "He was so fired up that he ran up to me, gave me a hug, ran full speed out to the leftfield warning track as they turned the lights out at Baseball Heaven (in Yaphank) and he dove into all the workouts that I prescribe to guys. He was doing it, by himself, in the dark, at 11 o’clock at night. That’s when it all hit him."

Ridings was drafted by the Cubs in the eighth round of the 2016 draft, spent two seasons in their system, and was traded to the Royals before the 2019 season. Ridings was an odd-man out when MLB contracted minor league teams last offseason and was released from the Royals system in November.

After the release, Ridings began substitute teaching and working at the Rawlings factory in Florida, Steinert said. He kept training and the Yankees signed him to a minor league deal in January.

"He just kept doing it," Steinert said. "He deserves everything he gets. He earned his opportunity and I couldn’t be happier and more proud of him."

Since 1997, Steinert said that he’s worked with 58 players from the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions who were drafted. But Ridings is just different.

"All along I’ve told people, even the guys who have already played in the big leagues that I’ve worked with, that Stephen is going to be the best guy I’ve ever worked with," he said.

After his electric debut, Ridings tweeted ‘I’ve peaked’ next to a video of himself hitting 100 MPH. If history is any guide, he hasn’t.