After his first spring start of the year, Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson looked back at the recent past in order to address how he intends to improve in 2025.
This season, he wants to have enough fuel to finish what he started.
“[It’s] just getting my feet underneath me and [learning] the conditioning it takes to go 162 games,” Woods Richardson told reporters in Fort Myers on Tuesday. “It’s learning how to collect data and say, ‘OK, you felt like this.' … So I’m really appreciative of that first season, so you can know what you’re working with.”
Woods Richardson allowed a run and three hits over two innings against a Yankees lineup that mostly had prospects and minor-league filler. All that SWR wanted, he said, was to get the ball over the plate. Small steps taken that will help him land a spot in the starting rotation again, with Chris Paddack, Zebby Matthews and David Festa also competing for roles that won't go to Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober.
Woods Richardson had a productive first full season, one of the best for a rookie in Twins history. In 28 starts he posted a 4.17 ERA (nearly league average when adjusted) with 117 strikeouts over 133 2/3 innings. He earned as much fWAR (1.9) as Gerrit Cole, and as much win probability added as Zac Gallen. In 24 of his starts, he allowed no more than three runs. In 17, no more than two runs. Nine times, one run or none.
But he didn't finish well — in at least two ways. Only 10 times all season did Woods Richardson make it into the sixth inning of a start. And he crashed down the stretch, posting a 6.75 ERA in his final six starts, walking 13 in 21 1/3 innings. It was taking him an average of 68 pitches to go three or four innings.
Conversely, he posted a 3.69 ERA in his first 22 starts. Per MLB Statcast, SWR's best pitches overall were his four-seamer (plus-9 runs of value), the slider (plus-5) and curveball (plus-3). His changeup (minus-14) is the pitch that needs the most work; batters slugged .622 against it.
He performed better than league average with limiting hard contact (72nd percentile) and getting batters to chase (57th). His fastball velocity and swing-and-miss rate rated in the lower third of the league. His BB% and ability to avoid barrels approached league average.
Results in Spring Training can be hard to read, much less assign meaning to, but if SWR improves his changeup and is successful gaining endurance, he stands to get better in '25 and over the long haul.