Simeon Woods Richardson Is Crucial Arm In Minnesota Twins Rotation

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson made the 2025 Opening Day roster and will be making his 2025 debut today against the Chicago White Sox.

Woods Richardson put together an impressive 2024 campaign where he made 28 starts and finished with a 5-5 record with a 4.17 ERA and 117 strikeouts. After making two combined appearances during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he took full advantage of his production last season and became an important piece to the Twins’ starting rotation.

This will be a big season for the 24-year-old, and it all begins this evening against a division foe. And he put together a productive Spring Training, which was a big reason he made the fifth spot in the starting rotation.

In his first four outings of the spring, he threw 11 innings and only allowed one earned run. His final outing of the spring was not similar to the first four, as he gave up six earned runs over 4.1 innings of work. Despite that outing, he finished Spring Training with a 1-2 record and a 4.05 ERA.

Minnesota Twins Expect Simeon-Woods Richardson To Be A Stabilizing Force

Woods Richardson talked to The Minnesota Star Tribune during Spring Training, and he’s excited about where he and the team are going this season.

“It just shows the everyday work that we put in. As both parties, me as a player and the organization, come together, you get better every day,” he said. “Yes, I am pretty happy about that. We’re still figuring out stuff along the way, and that’s the fun part.”

He also talked about his performance against the Atlanta Braves and his pitching style.

“It was fun to kind of play around with [my mechanics] today, just working on stuff,” he said. “Just keeping my hands tighter and closer to the body. I’m still tinkering with [my arm slot], making sure it’s comfortable. It’s not set in stone yet, the muscle memory, so we’re still working on it.”

SWR Poised For Productive 2025

In a starting rotation that features 2023 all-star Pablo Lopez, and newly added Chris Paddack, Woods Richardson wants to let people know that his performance in 2024 was no fluke and that he’s here to stay in the rotation.

MLBbro Pitchers Jordan Hicks, Xzavion Curry and Simeon Woods Richardson Ready For the Spotlight?

Last season, Woods Richardson put himself in the record books among Twins rookie pitchers. He finished second all-time in strikeouts per nine innings (7.9) and swing-and-miss percentage (22.3%). He also finished fifth all-time in opponents’ batting average (.246) and tied for fifth in strikeouts (117).

Woods Richardson certainly made a name for himself last season and the question this year will be, can the Twins see more production out of him on the mound?

There’s no question that he has the skill set to dominate out there on the mound, and now that he’s logged that experience on the mound from last year, he knows what to expect and what changes he needs to make going into his sophomore season.

Throughout the 2024 season, Minnesota was a team in the running to make the postseason but struggled toward the end of the season and ended any chances of a postseason berth.