Simeon Woods Richardson

Simeon Woods Richardson
Woods Richardson with the St. Paul Saints in 2023
Minnesota Twins – No. 78
Pitcher
Born: (2000-09-27) September 27, 2000 (age 24)
Sugar Land, Texas, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
October 2, 2022, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
(through August 4, 2024)
Win–loss record3–3
Earned run average4.11
Strikeouts92
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team

Simeon Woods Richardson (born September 27, 2000) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the United States national baseball team in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Amateur career

Woods Richardson attended Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas. He committed to attend the University of Texas at Austin to play college baseball. The New York Mets selected Woods Richardson in the second round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft with the 48th overall selection.[1][2]

Professional career

New York Mets

Woods Richardson was assigned to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Mets, and later promoted to the Rookie Advanced Kingsport Mets, and posted a 1–0 win–loss record, 1.56 earned run average (ERA), and 26 strikeouts in 17+1⁄3 innings pitched.[3] He began the 2019 season with the Class-A Columbia Fireflies of the South Atlantic League.[4] He was promoted to the Advanced-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League (FSL) in July 2019.[5]

Toronto Blue Jays

Before Woods Richardson could report to St. Lucie, the Mets traded him and Anthony Kay to the Blue Jays for Marcus Stroman.[6] The Blue Jays assigned Woods Richardson to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays following the trade.[5] Over 26 starts between Columbia and Dunedin, Woods Richardson pitched to a 6–10 record, 3.80 ERA, and 126 strikeouts in 106+2⁄3 innings.[3] He opened the 2021 season with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Double-A Northeast.[7]

Minnesota Twins

On July 30, 2021, Woods Richardson was traded to the Minnesota Twins along with Austin Martin in exchange for José Berríos.[8] He was assigned to the Wichita Wind Surge of the Double-A Central. Over 15 games (14 starts) between the two teams, he went 3–5 with a 5.91 ERA, 77 strikeouts, and 34 walks over 53+1⁄3 innings.[9] He opened the 2022 season back with Wichita,[10] and the Twins promoted Woods Richardson to the St. Paul Saints of the Triple-A International League in August.[11]

On October 2, 2022, Woods Richardson was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[12] He made his MLB debut for the Twins the same day against the Detroit Tigers.[13] Upon his debut, he surpassed seven players for the longest last name in MLB history with 15 characters.[14] This was surpassed on July 17, 2023, by Christian Encarnacion-Strand of the Cincinnati Reds, setting the new mark at 17 characters.[15]

Woods Richardson was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul to begin the 2023 season.[16] He made only one appearance for Minnesota, allowing five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts across 4+2⁄3 innings of work. Woods Richardson was again optioned to Triple–A St. Paul to begin the 2024 season.[17]

On April 13, 2024, Woods Richardson was recalled as the 27th man in a doubleheader versus the Detroit Tigers, where he would earn his first career win.[18] He would be optioned back the following day to Triple-A St. Paul.

On April 25, 2024, Woods Richardson would again be recalled to the Twins.[19]

International career

In May 2021, Woods Richardson was named to the roster of the United States national baseball team for qualifying for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[20] After the team qualified, he was named to the Olympics roster on July 2.[21] The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Mets sign second round pick Simeon Woods-Richardson". www.sny.tv. June 6, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  2. ^ Upadhyaya, Parth (June 6, 2018). "Texas signee Simeon Woods-Richardson drafted No. 48 overall to New York Mets". Laredo Morning Times.
  3. ^ a b "Simeon Woods Richardson Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Amato, Laura (July 20, 2019). "Mets minor leaguer Simeon Woods Richardson is growing up fast in Class A". newsday.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Battifarano, Andrew (August 8, 2019). "Jays' Woods Richardson makes new home". MiLB.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  6. ^ "Mets, Blue Jays agree to Stroman deal". MLB.com. July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  7. ^ "Fisher Cats Announce Tentative Opening Day Roster".
  8. ^ "Blue Jays land Berríos for 2 top prospects". July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  9. ^ "Twins' slow build of pitching rotation continues, even as it feels frustrating". Star Tribune.
  10. ^ "After eventful 2021, Twins prospect Simeon Woods Richardson looks to reboot". March 6, 2022.
  11. ^ "Top Pitching Prospect Simeon Woods Richardson Earns Promotions to Triple-A St. Paul".
  12. ^ "Twins' Simeon Woods-Richardson: Promoted for big-league debut". cbssports.com. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  13. ^ "Twins fall to Tigers 5-2 in Simeon Woods Richardson's big-league pitching debut". October 2, 2022.
  14. ^ "There's a new longest last name in AL/NL history". MLB.com.
  15. ^ "The new longest name in MLB history? He has arrived". MLB.com.
  16. ^ "Twins' Simeon Woods Richardson: Optioned to minors". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  17. ^ "Twins' Simeon Woods Richardson: Optioned to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  18. ^ "Twins quietly make a roster change ahead of doubleheader with Tigers". Puckett's Pond. April 12, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  19. ^ "Twins recall Simeon Woods Richardson". MLB.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  20. ^ "Team USA Announces Olympic Qualifying Roster". usabaseball.com. May 30, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  21. ^ "USA Baseball announces Olympics roster". MLB.com. July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  22. ^ "Baseball/Softball – United States vs Japan – Gold Medal Game Results". olympics.com. August 7, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.