Simeon Woods Richardson...X: @simeon\_woods...Instagram: @simeon\_woods10...attended Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas...on the Team USA roster at the 2021 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Baseball Americas Qualifier – where he was roommates with Twins pitcher and fellow 2021 trade deadline acquisition Joe Ryan – prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; was scheduled to start for Team USA against Puerto Rico, but game was cancelled due to weather...also won silver medal with Team USA at Tokyo Olympics; did not pitch in tournament...learned he was traded from Toronto to Minnesota when the Blue Jays' general manager called him at 3 a.m. Tokyo time...is friends with fellow trade deadline acquisition Austin Martin; the two were roommates in 2021 in Double-A Wichita...likes to cook, fish and draw in his spare time; claims he can cook almost anything...likes to draw his surroundings, from portraits to landscapes and anything else he sees around him...participated in 2023, '24 and '25 TwinsFest at Target Field...made debut wearing No. 78 (first player or coach in Twins history), switching to No. 24 during 2024-25 offseason — says his inspiration behind the number is Ken Griffey Jr. and Kobe Bryant.
2024
Pitched in Twins Spring Training for second time in career and was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on March 11...Began season in Saints' rotation as club's number two starter...Made two starts for Saints in early April and was recalled by Minnesota as 27th man on April 13... made Twins season debut, starting Game 2 of a doubleheader on April 13 at Detroit, allowing one run on two hits in six innings pitched, with one walk and five strikeouts earning first career win in a Twins 4-1 victory...Went back to St. Paul, where he made one start before being recalled by Twins on April 25, taking rotation and roster spot of Louis Varland (optioned)...spent rest of season in Twins rotation...Set season and career high with eight strikeouts in six scoreless innings of one-hit ball on May 6 vs. Seattle...Didn't allow a home run in 35 innings to start the season, from April 2 at Triple-A Nashville through the first inning on May 11 at Toronto...Went 1-0, 2.45 ERA (14.2 IP, 4 ER) in three April starts and 1-0, 2.84 ERA (25.1 IP, 8 ER) in five May starts...in May, ranked third among AL rookies in innings pitched and second in both ERA and opponent batting average...Struck out 26 batters in June, the most among AL rookies and tied for fifth most among all rookies in baseball...also ranked third among AL rookies in innings pitched (26.0)...Made final start of season with Minnesota on Sept. 25 vs. Miami, finishing with 28 starts, the most for a Twins rookie since Nick Blackburn started 33 in 2008...optioned after final start to make room for extra player...Held right-handed hitters to a .241 average with a .703 OPS with Minnesota, left-handed hitters to a .252 average and .685 OPS...Finished with 147.0 innings on season — 133.2 with Minnesota and 13.1 with St. Paul, most of professional career...his previous single-season high was 118.1 innings in 2023...Combined to go 5-6, 4.35 ERA (147.0 IP, 71 ER) with 53 walks, 129 strikeouts and a .251 opponent batting average in 31 starts between St. Paul and Minnesota...Posted a breaking ball run value of eight, ranking in the 91st percentile of baseball... held opponents to a .186 (8-for-43) average against his curveball and .214 (39-for-182) against his slider...Among all rookie pitchers in Twins history (minimum of 125 innings pitched), he finished second in strikeouts-per-9.0-innings pitched (7.9) and swing and miss percentage (22.3%), fifth in opponent batting average (.246), tied for fifth in strikeouts (117), sixth in opponent OPS (.695), eighth in WHIP (1.29) and 11th in fielding independent pitching (4.04)...Finished second among AL rookies in ERA (minimum of 100 innings pitched)...also second in opponent batting average, and fourth in strikeouts and innings pitched...Recipient of Bill Boni Award for Twins Outstanding Rookie, an award voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA.
2023
Pitched in Twins Spring Training for first time in career and optioned to Triple-A on March 11...Made two starts for Saints from April 9-15 and was recalled by Minnesota on April 21 and made one relief appearance for Twins on April 22 vs. Washington, allowing five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings pitched, with three walks and five strikeouts...Optioned back to St. Paul one day later on April 23...Pitched a season-high 7.0 innings on April 28 at Rochester...Earned first win of season on July 2 vs. Gwinnett, the start of a four-game winning streak that went to Aug. 8...Struck out a season-high seven batters in July 8 at Iowa (5.0 IP)...Named Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week on Sept. 10, allowing one run in 6.0 innings pitched with four hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts in a start at Louisville...Went 7-1, 3.03 ERA (71.1 IP, 24 ER) with 35 walks, 60 strikeouts and a .205 opponent batting average in final 14 games (12 starts) from June 20-Sept. 20...Made 22 starts for Saints and three relief appearances, going 5-6, 5.21 ERA (103.2 IP, 60 ER) as a starter and 2-0, 4.30 ERA (14.2 IP, 7 ER) as a reliever...Ranked second on Saints' staff in innings pitched (113.2) and starts (22) and third in strikeouts (96)...Ranked as 29th best prospect in Twins organization by Baseball America entering 2024.
2022
Began season with Double-A Wichita...Named Texas League Pitcher of the Month in April, going 2-0, 0.00 ERA (21.2 IP) with one unearned run, seven walks and 18 strikeouts in four starts for the Wind Surge...Set minor league career-high with 10 strikeouts (5.0 IP) in final start for Wind Surge on Aug. 16 vs. Tulsa...Promoted to Triple-A St. Paul Aug. 17...Made Triple-A debut in a start Aug. 21 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, allowing three runs on four hits in 3.0 innings pitched, with no walks and four strikeouts...Went 1-0, 1.29 ERA (28.0 IP, 4 ER) with nine walks and 26 strikeouts in a five-start span from Sept. 2-26 for Saints and had contract selected by Minnesota Oct. 2...Made Major League debut in a start Oct. 2 at Detroit, allowing three runs (2 earned) on three hits in 5.0 innings pitched, with two walks and three strikeouts and was dealt the loss in a Twins 5-2 defeat...allowed two unearned runs in the bottom of the first...struck out first career batter in the second inning, fanning Victor Reyes...became 13th Twin to debut in 2022, second-most in club history (14 in 2017)...at 22 years and five days old, he became youngest pitcher to debut in 2022 in all of baseball...Optioned by Minnesota Oct. 5 with one game remaining, making room on 28-man roster for Cole Sands...Combined to go 5-4, 2.72 ERA (112.2 IP, 34 ER) with 38 walks, 118 strikeouts and a .199 opponents batting average in 24 games (23 starts) between Wichita, St. Paul and Minnesota...held left-handed batters to a .183 average, compared to .211 vs. right-handers...Ranked second among all Twins minor leaguers in WHIP (minimum of 70.0 IP), third in strikeouts, innings pitched and ERA (minimum of 70.0 IP) and was also tied for third in starts...Ranked as Twins sixth-best prospect in organization by MLB.com after season...Ranked as Twins 10th-best prospect in Twins system by Baseball America, entering 2023...Named right-handed starting pitcher on Twins’ MiLB.com organizational All-Star team...Ranked as eighth-best prospect in Twins system by MLB.com, entering 2023.
2021
Was a non-roster invitee to Toronto spring training, his first spring invite...pitched 8.0 scoreless innings (4 H, 2 BB, 8 K) over three games (1 start)...assigned to Double-A New Hampshire to begin the season...struck out seven-or-more batters in each of his first four starts, going 1-0, 2.37 ERA (19.0 IP, 5 ER) with eight walks and 31 strikeouts in that span...set a new single-game career high with nine strikeouts on June 20 vs. Hartford (5.0 IP)...matched that total on July 15 at Hartford (4.2 IP)...on the Temporary Inactive List from May 25-June 9 to join Team USA for the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier...did not pitch in the tournament but Team USA qualified for the Olympics...placed on the Temporary Inactive List again on July 20 to join Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics...won a silver medal, but did not pitch...acquired by the Twins alongside IF/OF Austin Martin in exchange for RHP José Berríos on July 30...was in Tokyo with Team USA at the time of the deal, alongside Team USA teammate and fellow Twins trade acquisition Joe Ryan...returned to the U.S. and made his first appearance for Double-A Wichita on Sept. 4 at Arkansas...started and tossed 1.1 scoreless innings (3 BB, 2 K)...fanned five batters in 3.0 scoreless innings (2 H, 0 BB) on September 14 vs. Arkansas...overall went 3-5, 5.91 ERA (53.1 IP, 35 ER) with 34 walks and 77 strikeouts in 15 games (14 starts) combined between New Hampshire and Wichita...this included 1-1, 6.75 ERA (8.0 IP, 6 ER) with eight walks and 10 strikeouts in four games (3 starts) for the Wind Surge.
2020
Participated in Summer Camp at Rogers Centre in July... Spent the regular season the the club’s alternate training site in Rochester, NY.
2019
Started 2019 with Class-A Columbia and put together a 4.25 ERA across 20 starts...Dealt to the Blue Jays in the Marcus Stroman trade on July 28...Finished his campaign with six starts for the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays...At 18 years old, was the youngest pitcher in the Florida State League...Went 3-2 with a 2.54 ERA and a .182 opponents’ batting average.
2018
Began his professional career in 2018 with five outings for the GCL Mets before a pair of starts with Rookie-level Kingsport...Combined to go 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP while fanning 26 batters in 17.1 innings of work.
