The Only Odd Thing About the Simeon Woods Richardson DFA is the Timing

Woods Richardson was awful as a starter this season, but he hardly got a chance to prove himself in a bullpen role.

May 28, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson (24) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Rate Field. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Twins designated right-handed pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson for release or assignment on Saturday morning. That fact, by itself, does not come as a surprise. What is a bit odd, however, is the timing of the move.

Woods Richardson has had a truly nightmarish season for Minnesota, serving mostly as a starting pitcher. Across 47.2 innings pitched, he's allowed an AL-high 41 earned runs. His 7.74 ERA ranks 133rd out of 134 MLB pitchers with at least 40 innings this season. His WHIP is nearly 1.9, he has one fewer walk than strikeouts, and opponents have hit .330 off of him. He's been worth -1.4 bWAR. The Twins are 1-9 in games started by SWR and, prior to Saturday, they were 26-22 when anyone else started on the mound.

So again, the release makes sense on paper. Woods Richardson has been one of the very worst starting pitchers in all of baseball this season and he was out of minor-league options. Even with some injuries, the Twins couldn't afford to keep sending him to the mound as a starter — which is something they really should've realized several weeks ago.

Simeon Woods Richardson | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The only reason this comes as a surprise is that it happened before the Twins could get an extended look at Woods Richardson as a reliever. Prior to starting Thursday's game in Chicago out of necessity after an injury to scheduled starter Kendry Rojas, SWR had been moved to the bullpen and thrown three scoreless innings across two appearances in relief. But instead of giving Woods Richardson some additional opportunities in short stints as a reliever, the Twins sent him down and called up John Klein for what will be his second stint in the big leagues.

The other interesting thing about the timing of this roster move is that the Twins are low on pitching depth at the moment due to the Rojas and Mick Abel injuries, not to mention Pablo Lopez and David Festa being sidelined. They're also monitoring the workloads of Taj Bradley (following an IL stint) and rookie Connor Prielipp (who has never thrown more than last year's 82.2 innings in a college or professional season).

According to Audra Martin on the Twins' Saturday broadcast, manager Derek Shelton said the move to DFA Woods Richardson was about his immediate availability.

"Derek Shelton said it ultimately came down to needing arms, needing length ... and Simeon wasn't available," Martin said. "So unfortunately, in certain situations, that's why you have to make those moves. (Shelton) said they would have liked a longer look at him out of the bullpen because some things were trending in the right direction."

Woods Richardson throwing 67 pitches on Thursday means he wasn't going to be available for a few days, and it sounds like that was the reasoning for this move. Klein gives the Twins' bullpen a fresh arm they can turn to in a time where that group has been busy.

Still, this move means Woods Richardson will be subject to waivers, unless there's a team out there that wants to trade for him. As a 25-year-old former second-round pick who was a solid back-end starter in each of the last two seasons (combined 103 ERA+ and 4.1 bWAR in 245 innings), it feels very possible that Woods Richardson will get claimed. If he doesn't get claimed, he'll have the choice between accepting an assignment to Triple-A or becoming a free agent.