For Twins' early pitching formula, clarity starting to emerge

KANSAS CITY -- The pitching situation is starting to figure itself out in Minnesota.

Undecided bullpen roles, starters Bailey Ober and Mick Abel pitching in the same game and two off-days -- all in the first six days -- threw a wrench in the Twins’ typical plans as the club figures out how to handle its new-look bullpen behind a strong starting rotation.

Simeon Woods Richardson, now entering his third season in the big league rotation, almost made it even more complicated by needing 48 pitches to get through two innings, but the righty settled in to toss five innings of two-run ball, setting up a back end of the ‘pen that is starting to solidify its roles.

Wood Richardson’s only blemish came when Kyle Isbel crushed a down-and-in slider a Statcast-projected 403 feet into the right-field bullpen, proving to be the difference in the Twins’ 3-1 loss to the Royals on Monday at Kauffman Stadium. Otherwise, the 25-year-old Woods Richardson, who is looking to build upon a strong 2.33 ERA in five September starts to end last season, retired eight of the final nine batters he faced.

“I thought he slowed himself down,” manager Derek Shelton said. “I thought early, he was going a little bit fast … and I think that’s normal for your first start of the year, that you’re working a little fast. … I thought he threw the ball well after that, and again, not a ton of hard contact.

“I think he’d be the first one to admit he wasn’t getting ahead early, but he was able to finish, and that’s important. He was battling up there.”

Although Woods Richardson made his MLB debut in 2022, Monday’s outing in front of 39,320 in attendance for the Royals’ home opener was just his 52nd career start. He’s still learning how to perfect the art of navigating through a big league lineup, but he can also make changes in-game when things don’t go right early, too.

“I think [it was] first game of the season jitters,” Woods Richardson said. “Long innings, 3-2 counts, 2-2 counts, just dragging. Then I settled in. I found the strike zone earlier [in at-bats], created softer contact, created contact earlier. But yeah, that just kills momentum when you’re out there for I don’t know how long.

“So just trying to get momentum back, trying to get us back in the dugout to get some runs.”

It was a solid turnaround for Woods Richardson, who might have been in a camp competition with Abel and Zebby Matthews for the No. 5 starter before Pablo López’s injury and is now due to be a major player in the rotation. And it was a good thing he steadied himself, as his performance not only kept the Twins in the game, but also provided valuable insight into how Shelton is constructing his bullpen.

Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, Shelton turned to Kody Funderburk out of the ‘pen to face a pair of lefties in Vinnie Pasquantino and Carter Jensen. The lefty reliever walked the leadoff hitter but then struck out a pair and returned in the seventh as two of the next three batters were lefties, but gave up a solo homer to Isaac Collins and a base hit to Kyle Isbel. This sequence prompted Shelton to bring in righty Justin Topa, who began warming up prior to the frame.

Funderburk and Topa have now pitched in three of the Twins’ first four games in high-leverage situations. Cole Sands received, and notched, the first save opportunity of the season on Saturday, but with the Twins down two in the ninth, Shelton turned to Taylor Rogers, who was also tasked with holding down a small deficit in the ninth on Thursday.

After trading away their top five relievers at the Trade Deadline last year, and adding a few arms over the offseason on one-year deals, the end-game plan for the new-look ‘pen is starting to become evident.

“I think so. I think there’s a lot of trust there,” Shelton said. “[Funderburk] did a good job. He gave up the one hard-hit ball that ended up being a homer, and then Topa came in and did a good job, too. I think they are solidifying themselves in leverage situations.”

This pitching plan is working -- the club has allowed more than three runs just once in the first four games -- and Woods Richardson will be a big part of that moving forward. So will Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley, who are throwing the next two games because of the club’s decision to piggyback Ober and Abel on Sunday. Those starters are a formula the Twins can get behind.