First Pitch (CT): 12:05 PM
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN/830 WCCO/102.9 The Wolf /Audacy App
Know Yo’ Foe: Federal Baseball
After what we’ve seen from the Twins’ bullpen of late, we might need a stronger word than “implosion” to describe what’s happening. It’s unlikely to get better today with Simeon Woods Richardson amid arguably the worst stretch of his career.
So far in 2026, SWR’s strikeout rate is half of his career average at just 10.6%, the second worst in baseball among players with at least 30
IP. His 8.76% walk rate is around league average, but you can’t be league average in walks while not striking anyone out. The main issue seems to be Sim’s splitter, which was a big part of his resurgence in the second half of 2025. Opponents are hitting .350 with a .625 SLG off his splitter this season. His slider isn’t any better (.343 BAA, .600 SLG) so batters are just sitting on his fastball which has also made that pitch underperform. SWR’s path to success was already very limited, but this has been pretty much a worst case scenario for a rotation already missing Pablo Lopez, Mick Abel, David Festa, and had a Joe Ryan injury scare a few days ago.
What’s the solution? Beats me! With every one of his pitches getting hammered and nothing generating swing-and-miss, the solution might be moving to the bullpen where you can see if his funky delivery could get some added velocity and movement. Given the state of things down there, it’s not like he’ll be worse than Justin Topa or Luis Garcia. And the Twins have a knack for rescuing pitchers careers after flaming out in the rotation (see: Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, Cole Sands, Taylor Rogers, etc).
For now, Woods Richardson will get a chance to right the ship at least until Mick Abel is ready to return. Andrew Morris and John Klein seem to be transitioning to bullpen roles, at least for this season, and Kendry Rojas is still severely limited on pitch count at the moment. Unless Zebby Matthews rediscovers how to pitch, SWR will be a mainstay.
Lineup notes:
- Austin Martin gets yet another start against a righty, something that should become increasingly common with Josh Bell, Kody Clemens, and Matt Wallner all severely struggling.
- Speaking of Wallner, he gets bumped up to the 5th spot in the lineup after 1 good game. Shows how desperate the Twins are for anyone to get going outside of the top 4 of Buxton, Larnach, Martin, and Jeffers.
- Tristan Gray is starting at 3B over Royce Lewis for the third time in the past five games. Gray is thoroughly outperforming Lewis both offensively and defensively, and the Twins probably need to start thinking about replacing the former #1 pick. Kaelen Culpepper is playing well in St. Paul and will likely be a regular for the Twins by the All-Star break.
