Blue Jays Acquire Simeon Woods Richardson From Twins
The Blue Jays announced they’ve acquired right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson from the Twins for cash considerations. Toronto transferred lefty reliever Joe Mantiply from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Mantiply recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
It’s the second time the Toronto front office has acquired Woods Richardson. The first came as a prospect back in 2019, when the Jays landed him from the Mets as part of the Marcus Stroman deal. Woods Richardson was one of the better pitching prospects in MLB and found himself in another notable deadline trade two years later. Toronto packaged him and then-top prospect Austin Martin to Minnesota in ’21 for José Berríos.
Woods Richardson debuted the following year with one start. He also made one appearance the following season. The former second-round pick held a rotation spot for the better part of the next two years. Woods Richardson was a decent mid-rotation arm, posting a low-4.00s earned run average in consecutive seasons. He combined for a 4.11 ERA with a league average strikeout and walk profile across 245 innings from 2024-25.
That included a strong September last year that added optimism about Woods Richardson’s form going into 2026. Things have gone completely off the rails this year instead. Woods Richardson made two strong starts to open the season. He was knocked around over his next seven appearances, allowing almost 10 earned runs per nine innings. Minnesota pushed him to the bullpen for two scoreless outings. He drew back in as a spot starter on May 28 and was blitzed for five runs in 2 2/3 innings by the White Sox.
Minnesota pulled the plug at that point. Woods Richardson is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors, so the Twins designated him for assignment on Saturday. That gave them five days to see if they could line up a trade before exposing him to waivers. They were able to find a trade partner but only for cash.
Woods Richardson is averaging 92.7 mph on his fastball. That’s down marginally from last year’s 93.2 mark but not a dramatic drop. He has scaled up the usage of his splitter while abandoning his changeup and cutting back on his curveball. Nothing has worked this year, but his splitter and slider were both effective offerings last season.
Toronto’s rotation has been decimated by injuries. Berríos and Cody Ponce are done for the year. Shane Bieber remains weeks away from his season debut. Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer are both out of action but on rehab assignments, so they’ll be back soon. Woods Richardson could make a spot start or two in the interim or work out of the bullpen. The Jays are using Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Patrick Corbin as traditional starters and have Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles working mostly in 3-4 inning stints behind an opener.
Woods Richardson is playing for around the league minimum salary. He’ll qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player this winter if he holds his roster spot. He’s under club control for four seasons beyond this one.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic first reported the trade. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images.
Twins Designate Simeon Woods Richardson For Assignment
The Twins announced that right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson has been designated for assignment. Fellow righty John Klein was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding 26-man roster move, and since Klein was already on the 40-man roster, Minnesota now has only 38 players on their 40-man.
Woods Richardson has a garish 7.74 ERA over 47 2/3 innings, with almost an even number of strikeouts (26) to walks (25). Minnesota removed SWR from the rotation two weeks ago, but he was pressed back into starting duty on Thursday when Kendry Rojas was scratched due to an elbow problem. The hits just kept coming, as Woods Richardson allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings in the Twins’ 6-2 loss to the White Sox.
While Woods Richardson tossed three scoreless innings over his two relief appearances, he allowed a walk and a hit in both outings. The Twins obviously didn’t feel good enough about these performances to keep SWR around in a relief role, and since he is out of minor league options, Minnesota had to designate Woods Richardson and expose him to the waiver wire before trying to send him down to Triple-A.
A .339 BABIP and a 57.9% strand rate haven’t helped Woods Richardson’s cause, but his 5.74 SIERA indicates that his struggles are due to more than just bad luck. Woods Richardson has already been tagged for nine home runs in his 47 2/3 frames, continuing his issues at keeping the ball in the park against big league hitters.
Over 302 1/3 career innings in the Show, Woods Richardson has a 4.76 ERA for the Twins, with a 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate. His 11.5K% this season is a troubling dropoff even for a pitcher who didn’t miss many bats to begin with, and an increase in the use of a splitter has proven disastrous, as Woods Richardson’s split-finger fastball has been one of the least-effective offering of any pitch in baseball.
Though Woods Richardson’s peripherals have never been anything special, it is worth noting that he posted a respectable 4.11 ERA over 245 innings for Minnesota in 2024-25, starting 50 of his 51 games. Woods Richardson was also a top-100 prospect back in his days in the Blue Jays’ farm system, before he was dealt along with Austin Martin in the July 2021 deadline deal that sent Jose Berrios to Toronto.
As rough as things have been for Woods Richardson in 2026, his track record might get him a look on the waiver wire, if a rival pitching development staff feels it might have a fix. Woods Richardson is still only 25 and he has yet to reach arbitration eligibility, so he represents an interesting flier for teams in need of pitching depth, plus he could have a second act to his career if used strictly as a reliever.
Rojas was placed on the 15-day injured list yesterday with left elbow inflammation, dealing another blow to Minnesota’s rotation depth. While Woods Richardson was no longer in the starting picture and only went Thursday due to the emergency circumstance, the Twins are now without another pitcher they expected to be part of their 2026 rotation. Pablo Lopez was lost to Tommy John surgery, David Festa has yet to pitch in 2026 due to triceps and shoulder issues, and Mick Abel hasn’t pitched since April 14 due to elbow inflammation.
Twins Notes: Woods Richardson, Rojas, Lewis
The Twins are moving struggling starter Simeon Woods Richardson to the bullpen for at least this turn through the rotation, per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. Left-hander Kendry Rojas, a well-regarded prospect whom Minnesota acquired in last year’s Louis Varland trade with the Jays, will take his place and start tonight against the Astros.
It’s not necessarily a full-fledged rotation change. Rojas is taking the ball in what’ll amount to a bullpen game. Woods Richardson may even factor into the contest in some sort of bulk relief role. However, the 25-year-old has struggled immensely as a member of Minnesota’s starting staff this year. Woods Richardson has started nine games but been tagged for a grisly 7.71 ERA. He’s been done in by extreme susceptibility to home runs (1.93 HR/9) and the lowest strikeout rate of any pitcher who’s thrown at least 20 innings this year (10.1%).
Woods Richardson is a former second-round pick and touted prospect who came to Minnesota alongside breakout left fielder Austin Martin back in the 2021 José Berríos trade with the Blue Jays. From 2024-25, he was a solid back-end starter, taking the ball 51 times (all but one of them starts) and recording a 4.11 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate.
Woods Richardson hasn’t seen a massive drop-off in velocity, but his heater is down more than half a mile per hour, from last year’s 93.2 mph to a 92.6 mph average this season. He’s moved away from a curveball that was never all that effective and shifted from a traditional changeup to a harder splitfinger change that hasn’t produced the type of results for which he or the team hoped.
If the Twins were able, they’d likely have optioned Woods Richardson by now in hopes of getting him on track. He’s out of minor league options, though, so the solution isn’t so straightforward. Minnesota surely doesn’t want to completely jettison a formerly well-regarded prospect who gave them 50 mostly decent starts from 2024-25 and who still has four additional seasons of club control remaining.
Whether this is a full-on role change or just a temporary break to get him some bulk work in lower-leverage spots, a move to the ‘pen has seemed like an inevitability for some time now. It’s hard not to wonder what Woods Richardson’s arsenal might look like in shorter relief, however, especially since the Twins’ bullpen has been an unmitigated nightmare. Most pitchers see their velocity tick up when abandoning starting pitching and moving into one-inning, max-effort outings. Woods Richardson sat 93.2 mph last year and got strong results on his slider in both 2024 (opponents hit .214 and slugged .313) and 2025 (.214, .378). Bumping that velo into the mid-90s and focusing more heavily on that slider could produce better results.
Whatever shape it takes in the short term, Rojas figures to have a clear path to audition for a rotation spot in the long term. The Twins reluctantly parted with a homegrown (and hometown) Varland last year in large part because they were so enamored of Rojas’ potential in the rotation. The 6’2″, 190-pound southpaw has a 2.20 ERA in 16 1/3 minor league frames this season and has allowed two runs in his first 7 1/3 MLB frames out of the bullpen. Rojas has walked as many batters as he’s struck out (eight), which isn’t particularly encouraging, but he’s a 23-year-old in his first taste of major league action. Rojas walked 5.3% of his opponents in the minors and has generally been between 9-10% in most other seasons, so there’s no reason to expect command woes of this nature over a larger sample.
Rojas has sat 96 mph with his four-seamer in the majors and 97 mph in Triple-A this year. He’ll mix in an occasional sinker, but his go-to secondary offerings are a slider and changeup both thrown in the upper 80s. He’s a consensus top-10 prospect in an above-average Twins system that got stronger because of last summer’s fire sale and will get another boost this summer with the No. 3 overall draft pick. Rojas joins Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, Connor Prielipp, Zebby Matthews and top-100 prospect Dasan Hill in a collection of young arms around which the Twins hope to build the next core of their rotation.
While Woods Richardson struggles on the mound, Minnesota is facing a similar inflection point with struggling third baseman Royce Lewis. The 2017 No. 1 overall pick looked bound for stardom when he debuted in 2022-23 with a .307/.364/.549 slash and 17 homers in his first 70 MLB games (280 plate appearances). On top of that performance, Lewis went on to club four homers in 26 plate appearances during Minnesota’s 2023 postseason run. The sky looked to be the limit.
Injuries, however, have taken their toll. Lewis has twice torn the ACL in his right knee. He’s also had three strains/partial tears of his left hamstring, a quad strain in his right leg and (earlier this year) a mild sprain in his left knee. That’s practically a career’s worth of lower-half injuries, but Lewis incurred them all before even turning 27 years old (which he’ll do on June 5).
In 31 games and 119 plate appearances this season, Lewis is hitting just .163/.261/.279. Strikeouts have never been a prominent issue for him in the past — he posted a 21% strikeout rate from 2022-25 — but he’s fanned in 31.1% of his plate appearances this season. Lewis’ 32.8% chase rate on balls off the plate isn’t egregiously higher than his 31.4% career mark, but it’s way north of the 28.2% mark he showed during that 2022-23 flash of potential stardom. Meanwhile, his contact rate on pitches within the zone has dropped from 83.7% entering the year to just 78.3%. His contact rate when he does chase off the plate has cratered, falling from 59.1% in 2022-25 to only 44% this season.
Dan Hayes of The Athletic spoke to Twins skipper Derek Shelton, who voiced praise for Lewis’ work ethic and the amount of effort he’s put in to climb out of this rut. That only goes so far, however, and sooner than later the Twins will need to see tangible gains or else consider a demotion similar to Matt Wallner, who was optioned to Triple-A last week after two-plus years on the big league roster. Hayes lists journeyman Orlando Arcia and top-100 prospect Kaelen Culpepper as potential options to swap out for Lewis. Both would need to be added to the 40-man roster. Culpepper is a shortstop but could play third base in the majors or perhaps push Brooks Lee to the hot corner. Arcia doesn’t have a big track record but is hitting .318/.376/.556 with eight homers over in St. Paul.
Lewis is controllable through the 2028 season. He’s making $2.85MM this season after avoiding arbitration over the winter. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining.
Twins To Recall Zebby Matthews
The Twins will recall Zebby Matthews from Triple-A St. Paul to start tomorrow afternoon’s series finale against the Marlins. Manager Derek Shelton announced the decision after tonight’s 9-5 loss to the Fish (relayed by Aaron Gleeman).
It’ll be the first MLB appearance of the season for Matthews. The former top prospect was optioned to begin the year after failing to win a rotation spot out of camp. Matthews has started seven times in Triple-A, allowing a 4.72 ERA through 34 1/3 innings. He has had a decent strikeout and walk profile but has allowed multiple home runs in three of those outings.
That’s been the general profile during Matthews’ big league time as well. He fanned a quarter of opponents against a solid 6.6% walk rate in 25 MLB starts between 2024-25. His earned run average nevertheless sits just under 6.00. That’s partially due to a .359 average on balls in play, but the home run has been his biggest undoing. Matthews has allowed 1.77 longballs per nine innings, permitting a lot of those baserunners to score.
Minnesota lost Pablo López to elbow surgery early in camp. They’ve been without David Festa all season due to a shoulder impingement. Matthews nevertheless opened the season as the seventh arm on their rotation depth chart. Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson have held rotation roles all season. Taj Bradley and Mick Abel rounded out the season-opening five.
Abel landed on the injured list with elbow inflammation in the middle of April. Minnesota called up highly-regarded lefty Connor Prielipp to take that spot. Bradley went on the shelf over the weekend with pectoral inflammation, so the Twins will now tab Matthews to step into the rotation.
Minnesota has gotten strong work out of four of their rotation spots. Ryan, Ober, Bradley and the combination of Abel and Prielipp have all pitched well. Woods Richardson, who was a reasonable back-of-the-rotation arm over the last two seasons, is mired in a nightmare stretch. He opened the year with 11 2/3 innings of three-run ball over his first two starts. He hasn’t gotten beyond five innings in any of his last seven times out, allowing at least three runs in each. Miami put up eight runs (six earned) in three innings against him tonight, pushing his ERA to 7.71 over 42 frames.
Woods Richardson is out of options. The Twins could consider a bullpen move if they feel he needs a reset, but the various rotation injuries are testing their depth. Aside from Matthews, John Klein is the only other pitcher on the 40-man roster working out of the St. Paul rotation. Rookies Kendry Rojas and Andrew Morris have worked multiple innings out of the bullpen and could step into the rotation if they wanted to make a move with Woods Richardson. They’re three days into a stretch of nine straight game days.
Twins Option Zebby Matthews, Finalize Rotation Plans
The Twins announced Friday that they’ve optioned right-hander Zebby Matthews to Triple-A St. Paul. They didn’t formally say it, but that effectively sets Minnesota’s rotation heading into the season, barring a late injury or trade.
Minnesota did, however, formally name Joe Ryan the Opening Day starter today. That was a foregone conclusion after Pablo López was lost for the season due to UCL surgery early in camp. Right-handers Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson were more or less locks entering spring training. Ober had a rough stretch last summer while trying to pitch through a hip injury but has been a steady third/fourth starter in Minnesota for several seasons otherwise. Woods Richardson has been up and down between Minneapolis and St. Paul over the past two seasons but had a strong finish in ’25 and is out of minor league options.
The rest of the rotation looked less certain following López’s injury. Matthews and fellow righties David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel were vying for the final two spots. All four were ranked as top-100 prospects prior to their major league debuts, but none has fully solidified himself in the majors yet. Festa went down early with a shoulder injury that isn’t expected to necessitate a long-term absence but will send him to the injured list to begin the season. Matthews, Bradley and Abel were in a three-man competition for the final two rotation spots. With Matthews now optioned, it’ll be Bradley and Abel rounding out the staff.
Bradley came over from the Rays in exchange for Griffin Jax just minutes before the trade deadline last summer. He’s had some success at times in the majors but lacked consistency. However, he’s celebrating his 25th birthday today, so he’s plenty young and still has four seasons of club control remaining. Bradley has had a good spring showing. His 4.50 ERA in 14 frames is unremarkable, but he’s punched out a huge 32.2% of opponents against a solid 8.5% walk rate. His fastball velocity is up nearly a mile per hour this spring, sitting at an average of 96.9 mph, and he’s sporting an above-average 12.5% swinging-strike rate.
Abel, 24, is another deadline pickup for Minnesota. He came to the Twins from the Phillies in last July’s Jhoan Duran swap. Abel is a former first-round pick who for years ranked as a top-100 prospect. He was leapfrogged in the Phillies’ system by Andrew Painter, and a shaky 2024 season in the minors caused Abel to fall off of national prospect rankings. He bounced back in a big way in Triple-A last year, posting a pristine 2.20 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 98 1/3 innings. The 6’5″ righty matched that production through his first four MLB starts with the Phillies but struggled thereafter, allowing nine runs in his next 4 2/3 innings before being shipped to Minnesota.
Abel has looked dominant this spring. In 18 innings, he’s held opponents to a flat 2.00 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate against just a 4.5% walk rate and kept 53.8% of batted balls against him on the ground. In this spring’s small sample, Abel has upped the usage of his slider and changeup while scaling back how frequently he uses his two-seamer. The results, clearly, have been quite strong.
Matthews, 25, has pitched in parts of two seasons with the Twins already. He’s logged very good strikeout and walk rates (24.7%, 6.6% respectively) but been far too susceptible to home runs. He’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher who has seen nearly 15% of his fly-balls leave the yard; that’s led to an average of 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched.
Matthews sat better than 96 mph with his heater last season, pairing it with a plus slider and plus command. He’s yet to find an average third offering, as his changeup has been hit hard. If he can dial in a third pitch to help keep lefties off balance, he could yet emerge as a mid-rotation starter. Righties are flummoxed by that slider, but lefty hitters have turned in a huge .316/.372/.572 slash against him in the majors. Obviously, that won’t cut it.
The Twins will send Matthews to Triple-A to continue working on rounding out his arsenal. It’s possible that he and/or Festa could eventually emerge as bullpen options, particularly if Bradley and Abel can carry their spring performances into the regular season. The Twins have a number of interesting upper-level arms on the cusp of MLB readiness beyond that pair, including Kendry Rojas, Andrew Morris, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya (who’s moving to the bullpen full-time this season) and top prospect Connor Prielipp.
Twins Select Darren McCaughan
The Twins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Darren McCaughan and placed right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson on the 15-day injured list due to an illness. No additional corresponding moves were needed, as the Twins’ 40-man roster had been sitting at 37 players following last week’s fire sale.
It’s the second big league stint of the season for McCaughan, though his surroundings this time around will be much different than they were when he was briefly summoned to the majors back in late March. He tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball for a team that then harbored postseason aspirations. He’ll now return to a club that saw its roster — the pitching staff in particular — gutted ahead of last week’s deadline.
McCaughan, 29, has pitched 72 1/3 innings in Triple-A this season and been knocked around for a 5.35 ERA. The overall results aren’t particularly pretty, though they’re skewed a bit by a pair of nine-run implosions amid an otherwise serviceable year. He’s set down 20.1% of his Triple-A opponents on strikes and walked a lower-than-average 7.6% of the batters he’s faced.
McCaughan has a long track record as an innings-eating starter in the Mariners’ system, though he only ever received 14 major league frames with Seattle. He’s since pitched in Cleveland, Miami and Minnesota. In a total of 61 1/3 big league innings, he’s struggled to a 6.02 ERA. McCaughan sits 89-90 mph with both his four-seamer and sinker. He doesn’t miss many bats and has been homer-prone throughout his time in Triple-A, but he also typically avoids walks and takes the ball every five days. McCaughan has never been on the injured list in the big leagues or in the minors.
For now, McCaughan will add some length to a Twins bullpen that traded Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Danny Coulombe, Brock Stewart and Louis Varland for a combined seven younger players last week. There are plenty of innings to go around, and with Minnesota lined up for a bullpen game today, McCaughan could be in line for multiple innings behind scheduled opener Travis Adams.
Twins Option Simeon Woods Richardson, Likely To Promote Zebby Matthews
1:08pm: The Twins are planning to recall Matthews for what’ll be his first major league look this season, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He’ll likely get the ball for Sunday’s series finale. Nightengale adds an ominous note that Festa’s last start was skipped over due to arm fatigue, although the promising righty is slated to start Saturday’s Triple-A game.
10:21am: The Twins optioned righty Simeon Woods Richardson to Triple-A St. Paul following yesterday’s tough start, per the team. Left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk, who’d been with the team as the 27th man in Minnesota’s doubleheader versus the Orioles, will stay in the big league roster in his place.
Woods Richardson has been a constant in the Twins’ rotation dating back to last April. He’s been solid on the whole, working to a 4.36 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate across 171 1/3 innings, but his recent work has been lackluster. Woods Richardson has lasted fewer than five innings in four of his past five starts. He pitched into the sixth inning and held the Angels to one run back on April 26, but that’s the only time in the past month he’s completed five frames.
The three most recent starts for Woods Richardson have been particularly problematic. Beyond their abbreviated nature, he’s been tagged for a combined 10 runs and seen his command suffer considerably. Since the calendar flipped to May, Woods Richardson has pitched 13 1/3 innings and allowed 10 runs (6.75 ERA) on 15 hits (four homers) and eight walks. He’s walked 13.6% of his opponents against an ugly 15.3% strikeout rate and served up four of his eight home runs during that span.
A team optioning its fifth starter isn’t always headline news, but Woods Richardson’s demotion is a bit more notable given both a relatively lengthy run in starting five and the presence of two high-end young starters with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate: right-handers David Festa and Zebby Matthews. Both ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects prior to their respective MLB debuts last year. Matthews is still prospect-eligible and sits at the No. 46 spot on Baseball America’s recently updated top-100 list.
Festa, 25, was hit hard in his first two big league starts last year but settled in with a 3.81 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in his final 11 major league turns down the stretch. He started three games for the Twins earlier in 2025, pitching 13 innings with a pristine 1.38 ERA. Over his past 14 MLB starts, the 6’6″, 185-pound righty — nicknamed the “Slim Reaper” — carries a 3.34 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Since being sent back to Triple-A last month, he’s tossed 11 2/3 innings and held opponents to three runs (2.31 ERA) on six hits and no walks with 14 punchouts.
Not to be outdone, the 24-year-old Matthews has started seven games in Triple-A this year and logged a sparkling 1.93 earned run average. The 6’5″, 225-pound righty has set down 28.1% of his opponents on strikes and walked a sharp 6.7% of his opponents. Matthews’ 2024 debut was the inverse of Festa’s first MLB look; he was terrific through three starts before being trounced for nine runs by the Blue Jays on Aug. 31. In his final six starts, he pitched just 22 2/3 innings and was tagged for 23 runs.
Both Festa and Matthews have the makings of potential long-term rotation pieces for the Twins. That’s not to say Woods Richardson won’t get another chance. He’s still only 24 himself and won’t turn 25 until September. This is also Woods Richardson’s final option year, so the Twins will need to find a role for him heading into the 2026 season. Righty Chris Paddack is a free agent at season’s end, and injuries can arise at any time to create further opportunities, of course.
For the time being, the Twins have Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Paddack starting games. Festa, Matthews and Woods Richardson are all on the 40-man roster and in the mix for the last rotation job, though it seems Woods Richardson is shifting to the back of the line for the short term, at the very least.
The Twins will start Paddack today (2.51 ERA, 20.2 K%, 7.8 BB% over his past six starts) and then go to Ryan (2.74 ERA) and Lopez (2.77 ERA) against the Brewers on Friday and Saturday, respectively. They’ll need to bring up another starter for Sunday’s series finale in Milwaukee, as Ober would only be on three days’ rest. They could also push Ryan and Lopez back a day, as Matthews is slated to start tomorrow and Festa would also be on full rest if summoned for Friday’s game.
Twins Notes: Varland, Woods Richardson, Castro
The Twins entered the 2024 season with high hopes that prospect and Twin Cities native Louie Varland would step up and seize a spot in the rotation. The former 15th-round pick had the look of a late-round steal, having climbed to the No. 88 prospect in the game on FanGraphs’ top-100 rankings after pitching to a 3.06 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate in 126 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022 and notching a 3.81 ERA through 26 frames in his MLB debut late that season. Varland posted a 3.97 ERA with similar strikeout and walk rates in 81 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2023 and then held his own with a 4.63 ERA and continued K-BB rates in his 2023 range.
The 2024 season, however, could scarcely have gone worse for Varland. He lasted four starts in the rotation before being optioned to Triple-A with a 9.18 ERA (17 runs in 16 2/3 innings). Varland had a rollercoaster season in Triple-A, resulting in a 4.75 ERA through 16 starts, though a disproportionate amount of damage came in one start that saw him tagged for a staggering 11 earned runs. (He had a combined 3.67 ERA in his other appearances.) A late look in the majors yielded poor overall results, though Varland did finish with a nice stretch of 7 2/3 innings, wherein he allowed two runs with an 11-to-2 K/BB ratio.
Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that as the Twins gear up for 2025, it appears increasingly likely that Varland will be ticketed for a relief role. The St. Paul native averaged better than 95 mph on his heater last season even when working as a starter; it’s reasonable to expect that velocity to play up in a transition to a shorter role. Varland has posted at least average swinging-strike rates in the upper minors and big leagues as well, so it stands to reason that he could see an uptick in whiffs with a more powerful repertoire.
One reason it’s become easier to move a former rotation hopeful like Varland to the ‘pen has been the reemergence of Simeon Woods Richardson. The former top prospect had tumbled down Minnesota’s starting pitching depth chart heading into ’24 after a dismal 2023 showing in Triple-A. But, as Woods Richardson explained in a sitdown with The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman, an offseason and spring training of work with the Twins’ data team and coaching staff brought about a new arm slot that produced more velocity and a new-look slider that broke out as his most effective secondary pitch.
Woods Richardson wore down a bit late in the 2024 season as he pushed to a new career-high level in terms of workload (31 starts, 147 innings), but he finished the season with a 4.17 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. His four-seamer, which averaged just 90.7 mph in his brief MLB looks in 2022-23, sat at 93.1 mph on the season despite fading over his final six starts (92.1 mph average four-seamer, 6.75 ERA). Woods Richardson, acquired alongside Austin Martin in the trade that sent the final year-plus of control over Jose Berrios to Toronto, now looks like he’ll open the 2025 season locked into the No. 4 spot in Minnesota’s rotation behind Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober.
Development from in-house arms of this nature will be key for the Twins in 2025, as ownership has handcuffed the baseball operations staff all offseason in terms of roster additions, as the Pohlad family explores a sale of the club. The Twins have been active in trade talks but have not yet pieced together a deal of much note. They’ve added some catching depth in small swaps for former top prospect Diego Cartaya and utilityman Mickey Gasper, but top trade candidates like Christian Vazquez and Chris Paddack remain with the club. The Twins still would like to add at first base and pick up a right-handed hitting outfielder, but there’s been no trade of note and not one major league free agent signing thus far, given payroll constraints from ownership. The Twins may not need to cut payroll from its current level, but they also don’t have much (or any) room to raise it without a trade that trims some salary from the books.
With those financial limitations in mind, the front office is considering some time at first base for utilityman Willi Castro, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Twenty-six-year-old Jose Miranda, who bounced back from a 2023 season ruined by shoulder surgery to bat .284/.322/.441 last year (115 wRC+) is the top in-house option at the moment. He’s played 698 big league innings there and graded poorly from a defensive standpoint, although the former second baseman/third baseman was largely learning the position on the fly in 2022 when he tallied 595 of those innings; he’d entered that season with all of 225 career minor league innings at the position.
It seems unlikely that Castro would be a regular option at first, given the value of his versatility. He’s a viable backup at shortstop, second base, third base and anywhere in the outfield. Adding first base to that repertoire only further broadens his importance to the club. There’s been some thought that Castro and his own $6.4MM salary could be a candidate to change hands, though doing so would thin out the Twins’ depth at all those positions and remove one of the team’s best baserunners. With Minnesota at least ostensibly not required to slash payroll any further, trading Castro seems like a scenario to which the front office would be heavily opposed.
Twins Notes: Woods Richardson, Varland, Headrick, Lee
The Twins optioned right-hander Louie Varland to Triple-A St. Paul yesterday, creating a vacancy in the rotation in the process. That spot will be filled by right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson, writes Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, noting that manager Rocco Baldelli confirmed as much following yesterday’s moves. Woods Richardson will take the ball Friday in Anaheim.
It took longer than the team might’ve hoped, but adding the 23-year-old Woods Richardson to the rotation means the Twins will now have both prospects they acquired from the Blue Jays in exchange for Jose Berrios contributing on the big league club. Woods Richardson already tossed six innings of one-run ball in a spot start against the Tigers earlier this year and showed a notable velocity uptick (93.4 mph average, up from 91 mph in two spot starts in 2022-23). Meanwhile, infielder/outfielder Austin Martin has hit .244/.292/.400 through his first 48 MLB plate appearances this season. The former No. 5 overall pick has homered, hit four doubles and fanned only seven times (14.5%) early in his MLB tenure.
Varland, a St. Paul native, was expected to enter spring training in a competition with veteran Anthony DeSclafani that would determine who won the team’s fifth starter job. Instead, DeSclafani required season-ending surgery to repair his flexor tendon, effectively giving Varland the five spot by default.
Varland entered the season with a career 4.40 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 94 big league innings, so the former top prospect was hardly unqualified for the job. However, Varland’s previously plus command has evaporated in the early stages of the season. He walked 10.3% of his opponents and was also missing frequently within the zone, evidenced by a lack of missed bats (a paltry 7.6% swinging-strike rate) and a glaring six homers in 16 2/3 frames (3.24 HR/9). He’ll continue to work as a starter with the Saints for the time being and could be an option if he gets back on track and/or an injury occurs elsewhere in the rotation.
The rotation depth took a further hit when lefty Brent Headrick was transferred from the 7-day IL in Triple-A to the 60-day IL just yesterday. Headrick, who made his MLB debut last season, recently suffered a forearm strain. It appears the injury is significant enough that he’ll be sidelined for multiple months. The lefty posted a combined 3.32 ERA in 108 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in 2022 before turning in a 4.68 ERA in 75 Triple-A frames last year. His first taste of the big leagues produced a grisly 6.31 ERA in 25 2/3 innings, though that came in a long relief setting and a disproportionate amount of the damage came in one nightmare outing where he allowed five runs to the Red Sox and only completed one inning.
Headrick’s injury isn’t the only minor league injury of note for the Twins, though. Infielder Brooks Lee, the No. 8 overall pick in 2022 who’s widely considered to be one of the game’s 25 to 50 best prospects, has been out all season with a lower back strain. Triple-A skipper Toby Gardenhire said early in the season that the hope was Lee would only be down three to four weeks, but Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic now reports it’ll be a much lengthier absence.
Per Gleeman, Lee has been diagnosed with a herniated disc in his lower back. He’s working with renowned spinal specialist Dr. Robert Watkins but is only about three weeks into what’ll now be a two-month rehab plan. That’ll take Lee out of consideration for any near-term promotion. For a Twins team that’s currently without Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa, it’s a notable blow.
The 23-year-old Lee is generally viewed as near MLB-ready. He struggled in his first taste of Triple-A in the second half of the 2023 season but produced a stout .292/.365/.476 slash in 399 Double-A plate appearances. Lee walked at a 10.3% clip against just a 15.8% strikeout rate in Double-A while also popping 11 homers and 31 doubles. He’s played shortstop almost exclusively in the minors, and if Lee were healthy, he’d likely have been an option to replace either Lewis or Correa by this point in the season.
Once healthy, Lee could emerge as the Twins’ long-term option at second base, with Edouard Julien sliding over to first base — or Lee could simply oscillate between multiple positions in a super-utility role that provides him regular at-bats. For now, the focus will simply be on rehabbing his back with an eye toward a return this summer.
Twins Place Carlos Correa On 10-Day IL, Designate Michael Tonkin
The Twins announced a set of roster moves prior to their double-header with the Tigers, including the expected news that Carlos Correa has been placed on the 10-day injured list. Right-hander Michael Tonkin has also been designated for assignment, and the Twins have filled those two open roster spots by calling catcher Jair Camargo up from Triple-A, and selecting the contract of right-hander Matt Bowman. In addition, right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson was also called up as the extra 27th man for the double-header.
Correa suffered a right oblique strain in yesterday’s game, and while he told MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park and other reporters today that MRI results hadn’t yet come back, an IL stint seemed inevitable. The question now facing Correa and the Twins is just how much time the shortstop will miss, as oblique injuries have a tendency to linger unless Correa lucked out with a very low-level strain. It seems likely that Correa will miss more than just 10 days, and since third baseman Royce Lewis is also out with a quad strain, Minnesota is suddenly rather short-handed in the infield. Utilitymen Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer were already handling the bulk of third base duties, and since one of them will now be moved over to shortstop, Jose Miranda or Austin Martin could get more looks in the infield.
Camargo is perhaps something of an unusual call-up in this context, as the Twins already have Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez handling catching duties. However, if Miranda gets more time at third base, that opens up some DH at-bats to allow Jeffers and Vazquez in the lineup at the same time, with Camargo providing depth behind the plate.
When and if Camargo does get into a game, it will mark the 24-year-old’s Major League debut. An international signing for the Dodgers in 2015, he started his pro career at age 16, and has toiled away in the minors before getting his first crack at the Show. Camargo made it to Triple-A for the first time in 2023, and to date has hit .260/.328/.499 with 23 homers over 415 plate appearances at the top rung of the minor league ladder. Baseball America ranked Camargo as the 26th-best prospect in Minnesota’s farm system, citing his power, hard contact, and an above-average throwing arm as pluses. However, Camargo’s defense as a whole is average at best, and he has posted some hefty strikeout rates across his minor league career.
Tonkin finds himself back on the DFA wire just over a week after the Mets initially designated the righty. The Twins acquired Tonkin in a trade earlier this week, and he allowed two runs over two relief innings in yesterday’s 8-2 loss to Detroit. This could potentially mark Tonkin’s only appearance in his second career stint with Minnesota, unless he clears waivers and accepts an outright assignment. Since electing free agency would mean giving up what remains of his $1MM guaranteed salary from the Mets, Tonkin might decide to simply bide his time at Triple-A Saint Paul.
Speaking of guaranteed salaries, Bowman’s selection to the active roster means that the veteran reliever has now locked in $925K for 2024, as per the terms of the minors contract he signed with the Twins in January. Bowman posted a 4.02 ERA over 181 1/3 innings for the Cardinals and Reds from 2016-19 before an extended Tommy John rehab kept him from pitching at any level for the next three seasons. He finally returned to action with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate last year, and completed the comeback by tossing four innings over three MLB games for New York in September.
Bowman provides Minnesota’s pen with a fresh arm for at least today’s double-header, and perhaps for a longer stint given how seven Twins relievers are still on the injured list. Caleb Thielbar and Josh Staumont have begun Triple-A rehab assignments, while closer Jhoan Duran has started to throw bullpen sessions as he worked his way back from an oblique strain.