The Minnesota Twins have had a tough season so far. Sitting at 23-27 and five games back of first place in the American League Central after defeating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Wednesday, the Twins have a lot of work to do if they want to make a shocking run in the second half of the season.
The Twins have been busy in recent days, sending struggling hitters Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis to Triple-A. But if they’re honest with themselves, they need to keep finding ways to add new players to the roster and it begins with three players who are proving that they shouldn’t be on the roster when the calendar turns to June.
SP Simeon Woods Richardson
It’s been a rough run for Woods Richardson this season. After appearing to turn a corner in 2025, going 7-4 with a 4.04 ERA, the 25-year-old has posted a league-high six losses, an ugly 7.53 ERA and a demotion to the bullpen.
Woods Richardson’s Baseball Savant page is even uglier at the start of the season as he’s posted an MLB-low 10.3% strikeout rate. The main culprit is that he hasn’t been able to miss bats as his slider whiff rate has dropped from 27.4% last season to 20.0% this season, and the whiff rate on his split finger, which has already been thrown more this season (208) than last season (187), has dropped from 32.7% to 16.5%.
The problem here is that Woods Richardson is out of minor league options and the Twins’ injury situation with Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, David Festa and Pablo López on the injured list has them hoping he’ll figure it out in the bullpen. But throwing in the towel may not be far away if he keeps this up.
RP Anthony Banda
Another takeaway from the opening weeks of the season is that this bullpen isn’t working. While the Twins designated Justin Topa and his 8.05 ERA for assignment earlier this week, the next reliever on the chopping block could be Anthony Banda.
The Twins essentially got Banda for free this offseason and his performance is showing why. In 23 appearances, the 32-year-old has posted a 6.64 ERA with 18 strikeouts and eight walks over 20.1 innings and is another member of the Twins bullpen who is out of minor league options.
Banda has looked better as of late, allowing just one run in his past seven appearances. He has also allowed more than one run just once over his last 14 appearances, perhaps showing that he’s hit his stride after coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers. But with a plethora of left-handers available, Banda seems destined for mop-up duty or at least a spot on another team.
RP Luis Garcia
This isn’t an article designed to pick on the Twins’ bullpen but after cleaning house on position players, it might be time to do the same with the relievers. The Twins had to take risks to construct their bullpen this year and Garcia is looking like a failed reclamation project that will be gone in two weeks.
The 39-year-old has bounced around the majors over the past couple of seasons and his stops have looked similar to what he’s doing with the Twins. In nine appearances (8.2 innings), Garcia has allowed 10 earned runs and has more walks than strikeouts. Baseball Savant reveals some promising metrics as he’s posted a 34.1% chase rate and 5.2% barrel rate. But he’s not doing it enough to keep opposing hitters from doing damage, allowing a .329 expected batting average and just a 20.9% whiff rate.
With the right-hander struggling, it’s fair to wonder why they didn’t give the recently released Matt Bowman a shot in the majors. But it’s not too late to give García the hook before the calendar turns to June.
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