Twins quietly make a roster change ahead of doubleheader with Tigers.
Rain postponed and rescheduled a game for the Minnesota Twins for the second time in five days.
The Cleveland game on Sunday was rescheduled for August 9th as a doubleheader. The turnaround is considerably more rapid, yet the season opener against the Detroit Tigers was also postponed four days later.
The game on Thursday was combined into a Saturday doubleheader. The main effect of this was to upset the equilibrium of the pitching rotation, because Minnesota chose to simply move back rather than skip any starts. This implies that Joe Ryan will still throw on Saturday night, and Pablo Lopez, who was supposed to start on Thursday, will take the mound on Friday.
The Twins had to make a roster change as a result, calling up Simeon Woods Richardson to take up the 27th bonus spot. In addition to being called up, he is anticipated to start Saturday’s first game.
Woods Richardson is joining the MLB for the third time, and everyone is hopeful that things would go more smoothly this time.
Although he has appeared in both of the previous two seasons, he hasn’t remained in a manly role. In 2022, he pitched five innings and finished with a 3.60 ERA in his one major league start. His stuff was solid. Last season, he had more difficult times, giving up five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings.
To be fair, Woods Richardson’s comeback was as rocky, as he had to be called up to cover for Kenta Maeda’s injury and appeared in a relief position during a crushing defeat to the Nationals.
That game was awful in every way, but Woods Richardson was especially depressing. Now is his moment to make a change and create a lasting impression that will help him get more involved in the future.
Despite his improving performance in Spring Training, he was not included in the final roster. He is the lone healthy non-MLB arm on the 40-man roster, so with all of the pitching depth problems the Twins have had this year, this might be more than just an opportunity for him to fill in and could pave the way for something greater.
