Blue Jays’ Simeon Woods Richardson reunion has to be driving the Twins crazy

When the Toronto Blue Jays brought Simeon Woods Richardson back into the organization, it was mostly a desperation move. The Blue Jays needed pitching, Woods Richardson was familiar to the organization, and the Minnesota Twins had already reached the point of moving on. All three ingredients combined for a recipe that smelled of a short-term stop gap arm that would likely be DFA'd again soon.

And while that did come to fruition, Woods Richardson has posted an incredibly baffling stat line that makes you do a double take. He appeared in three games between Jun. 8-17, was DFA'd by the Blue Jays, cleared waivers, pitched in Triple-A for a little while and then was called back up in August.

He has since pitched in three more games and in six total appearances with Toronto, Woods Richardson has thrown 16.2 innings and allowed just one earned run, good for a microscopic 0.55 ERA.

Even that lone earned run comes with an asterisk, arriving during the chaotic sequence where the Boston Red Sox scored a run on a sacrifice, inning-ending double play. The footage appeared to show the umpiring crew had misled John Schneider on when they were allowed to appeal the play and the runner scored on the now infamous "fourth out rule" play.

Strip away the weirdness of that play, and Woods Richardson has essentially given the Blue Jays exactly what every contender is trying to find this late in the season: useful, flexible, run-preventing innings from a pitcher who cost almost nothing to acquire.

The funny part is that it still does not look very sustainable. Woods Richardson is walking 5.51 batters per nine innings, which is the third highest mark on the Blue Jays since the beginning of June behind Brendon Little (8.79) and the recently traded Adam Macko (6.43) . He has only struck out 12 batters, so he's not overpowering hitters and erasing traffic with swings and misses.

Instead, he is surviving in ways that tend to showcase how stingy the defense is behind him, while he's also posted a 94.4 percent left-on-base rate and a .200 BABIP against. So while hitters are getting on base via the walk, anything put in play is quickly erased and runners are being left behind. His expected numbers tell a much less flattering story, with a 4.46 xERA and 5.12 xFIP sitting well above his actual ERA, while his 3.45 FIP at least suggests he has done a better job of limiting the most damaging outcomes.

Woods Richardson is probably not suddenly turning into a shutdown reliever. But he is eating bulk innings when the Blue Jays need him to, something he didn't do with the Twins.

Minnesota Twins are watching Simeon Woods Richardson and Louis Varland do good work out of Blue Jays' bullpen

That production for Toronto makes this feel painful from Minnesota’s perspective. Woods Richardson was once one of the key pieces Minnesota acquired from Toronto in the José Berríos blockbuster at the 2021 trade deadline. The Twins landed Austin Martin and Woods Richardson in exchange for their homegrown starter and had hoped that Woods Richardson could become an anchor in their rotation one day.

After getting 9.2 innings of MLB experience between 2022 and 2023, he stepped into their rotation full time in 2024 and over the next two season's, he posted decent enough numbers. Woods Richardson had a 4.11 ERA in 245 innings pitched, with an 8.23 K/9 in 51 games (50 starts).

His 4.30 FIP and .275 BABIP against left a bit to be desired, but after his age 24 season, the Twins could have said they were happy with the progression. Things went down hill right out of the gate in 2026, leading to his dismissal and return to the Blue Jays, who originally acquired him in a deal with the New York Mets for Marcus Stroman.

They also sent the Blue Jays Louis Varland last trade deadline and he has blossomed into one of the premier closers in baseball. Then the Twins turned around and added Jeff Hoffman from Toronto at this year’s deadline in an effort to reshape their own bullpen. Hoffman has been fine, posting a 2.57 ERA in seven innings, but he has also allowed some hard contact (62.5%) and untimely hits, including in a recent loss to the Brewers. Like Woods Richardson, Hoffman's expected numbers don't pain a pretty picture with an xERA of 6.39 and xFIP of 4.74.

The Blue Jays should still be realistic about what Woods Richardson is, a pitcher carrying a walk rate that high, with so few strikeouts and so much traffic stranded, is not exactly screaming long-term certainty. But for now, he's getting results and that's what could make all the difference in the end as these two teams continue to battle for that final Wild Card spot.

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