Twins shake up starting rotation, demote Simeon Woods Richardson to the minors

Simeon Woods Richardson’s second-half struggles last season were easy to write off as a rookie running out of gas after logging a career-high 147 innings between the majors and the minors. But when the same issues carried into this season, the Minnesota Twins decided to make a change Thursday.

The Twins optioned Woods Richardson to Triple-A St. Paul following a poor start Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, in which he allowed two homers and six runs in four innings, raising his ERA to 5.02. It was his third consecutive start failing to complete five innings.

The Entertainer has left the building!! pic.twitter.com/MWEY3208Ol

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 14, 2025

With the rest of the rotation thriving as the Twins climbed out of an early hole via a 10-game winning streak, Woods Richardson’s short starts and poor control were tougher and tougher to ignore. And the Twins have two appealing Triple-A alternatives in David Festa and Zebby Matthews.

Woods Richardson was pushed into last season’s rotation ahead of schedule because of Anthony DeSclafani’s spring training injury and Louis Varland going 0-4 with a 9.18 ERA in his place. Woods Richardson exceeded even the most optimistic expectations with a 3.27 ERA in his first 17 starts.

But he wasn’t the same pitcher in the second half, posting a 5.91 ERA in his last 11 starts, including going fewer than five innings in each of his final six outings to finish with an average-ish 4.17 ERA overall. And that matched his middling advanced metrics, such as a 4.02 xERA and 4.45 xFIP.

Despite that, the Twins viewed Woods Richardson as the favorite to claim the fifth rotation spot this spring, and he held off Festa and Matthews without much in the way of a meaningful competition. But he simply didn’t pitch well enough, consistently enough, to hang on to the job.

Woods Richardson is 24 years old and has a decent 4.48 ERA in 181 career innings for the Twins, so this demotion doesn’t shut the door on him being part of their future plans. However, he lacks the high-octane raw stuff and bat-missing ability of Festa and Matthews, who have more upside.

David Festa’s 2Ks in the 4th.

5ks thru 4 pic.twitter.com/S2SlbwqNTJ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 16, 2025

The Twins likely will need Woods Richardson to start games again this season, perhaps soon, but in the meantime, he’ll head back to the minors for a reset after posting a combined 5.51 ERA with 76 strikeouts, 37 walks and 16 homers in 83 1/3 innings since late July of last season.

Over that same span, Festa has a 3.34 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings for the Twins, including a 1.38 ERA in three starts filling in for an injured Pablo López earlier this season. Festa also has a 3.60 ERA and 22-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in four Triple-A starts this season.

Matthews has yet to experience big-league success, but he’s the reigning Twins minor league pitcher of the year following a 2024 breakout in which he rose from High-A Cedar Rapids to the majors in three months. After a dominant spring, Matthews has a 1.93 ERA in seven Triple-A starts.

Tuesday’s rainout in Baltimore and Wednesday’s doubleheader shook up the Twins’ rotation schedule. For now, Woods Richardson was replaced on the active roster by reliever Kody Funderburk, but they’ll need to call up a starter for Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

(Photo: Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)

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