Blue Jays bring up swingman Simeon Woods Richardson

Braydon Fisher is going to get the start against the Yankees on Saturday, but he won’t be able to go more than a turn through the lineup at most. Woods Richardson seems likely to be the bulk hurler for that game, but even with a chance to pick up multiple innings and potentially a win, he offers more risk than reward at this point.

The only positive takeaway is that initial imaging doesn’t seem to have turned up any structural issues after Taillon left Monday’s start against the Red Sox with forearm discomfort. The 34-year-old veteran heads back to the shelf after making only two starts for Toronto following his exit from Chicago’s rotation back in late July. It’ll likely be Simeon Woods Richardson taking his spot in the Blue Jays’ rotation against the Yankees this weekend.

Taillon was replaced by Simeon Woods Richardson after throwing just 61 pitches over four shutout innings. He finished with three strikeouts and also issued three walks. He’s in clear jeopardy of missing his next start against the Yankees on Saturday. It would presumably be Woods Richardson taking his spot in Toronto’s rotation. There should be additional clarity on his status in the coming days.

Woods Richardson could elect free agency after being designated for assignment and unclaimed, but for now, it appears the 25-year-old will remain in the Toronto organization. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster if the Blue Jays deem him worth of an MLB roster spot.

Woods Richardson is DFA’d again despite pitching 10 scoreless innings for the Blue Jays, though those 10 innings did come with seven walks and just five strikeouts. Including his time with the Twins, he has a 6.40 ERA and a hideous 31/32 K/BB in 57 2/3 innings on the year. Still, since he’s young and can soak up innings, someone else will likely want him.

Back with the Blue Jays and pitching after an opener, it was a miracle Woods-Richardson didn’t give up a run here. He walked three, allowed three hits, and there was a runner in scoring position all three innings he pitched. That came while he only forced three swings-and-misses. He is only an option for the Blue Jays because of how depleted their starting pitching corps are should not be a consideration in any of our fantasy leagues dispute winning his first game of the season.

Corbin gave up four hits, including a two-run homer to Adolis García as he allowed four runs for the second consecutive start. The interesting wrinkle here is that Simeon Woods-Richardson tossed four scoreless innings out of the bullpen in his Toronto debut, which could set up a potential piggyback situation moving forward. Corbin is not a recommended fantasy option when he faces the Yankees on Sunday.

Woods Richardson provides Toronto’s injury-ravaged pitching staff with some much-needed rotation depth after being jettisoned from Minnesota’s roster last weekend. The 25-year-old was shipped to the Twins as part of the José Berríos trade a half-decade ago. He’s struggled mightily this season with a bloated 7.74 ERA, 1.89 WHIP and 25/26 K/BB ratio across 47 2/3 innings. However, he makes sense as a temporary stopgap solution for the Blue Jays until Dylan Cease (hamstring), Max Scherzer (forearm) and Shane Bieber (elbow) are ready to return from the injured list.

This qualifies as a surprise since Woods Richardson was one of Minnesota’s better homegrown arms after coming over as a prospect in the José Berríos trade back in 2021. Still, he was out of options and the Twins had little choice but to move on given his recent performance. He was torched for five runs over 2 2/3 innings by the White Sox during a spot start in place of an injured Kendry Rojas earlier this week. The 25-year-old’s strikeout rate has plummeted this season while struggling to an inflated 7.74 ERA, 1.89 WHIP and 25/26 K/BB ratio across 47 2/3 innings in a swingman-type role. He would make a ton of sense as a zero-risk reclamation project somewhere else and there should be plenty of interest on waivers.

Woods Richardson, who pitched two innings out of the pen on Monday, got the ball after Kendry Rojas was scratched before the game. He got through two innings allowing only one run, but the White Sox had four hits off him to knock him out of the game in the third. Woods Richardson is 0-7 with a 7.74 ERA and a 26/25 K/BB in his 10 starts and two relief appearances this season. He’s out of options, so the Twins can’t simply send him down. He’ll probably stick around as a middle reliever.