Twins rookie Simeon Woods Richardson finally getting settled, working on game

Simeon Woods Richardson is just now feeling like he can take a breath.

The 21-year-old righthander from Texas has weathered a lot of whiplash in his young career. The Mets drafted him in 2018, and he played in their organization for a year and a half before getting traded to Toronto. He finished out the 2019 season in the Blue Jays system, only to have 2020 canceled because of the pandemic. Before he could even really settle in again in 2021, the Blue Jays shipped him and Austin Martin to the Twins in exchange for All-Star starter Jose Berrios.

Woods Richardson found out about that from a 3:30 a.m. call as he was battling for a medal at the Tokyo Games for Team USA.

"I was kind of half-asleep at the time. We just got done playing for the bronze medal game, getting ready for the silver game," he relayed on a video call Friday from the Twins' training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. "... Turned out to be the GM for the Blue Jays talking about the trade. So I had to call the family, make some moves back in the States while in Japan, get my life situated over there, and when we got back, hit the ground running."

At least he wasn't alone in that situation. Fellow U.S. teammate — and his roommate during that tournament's qualifiers — Joe Ryan also came to the Twins from a mid-Olympics trade.

Ryan went to Class AAA St. Paul and eventually up to the a Twins team short on personnel toward the end of the season. Woods Richardson finished his year at Class AA Wichita, where he appeared in four games, three of them starts, going 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

While life isn't completely back to normal with the current lockout situation, Woods Richardson has re-established his routine, even impressing the Twins early during January minicamps.

Alex Hassan, Twins director of player development, said that with how unusual Woods Richardson's trade scenario was, it was hard to really judge his performance in those final months of the season. But what the team saw in January impressed.

"Getting him here, getting him in our hands, really just highlighting a few things for him that we wanted him to work on, he's been great," Hassan said. "... The two areas we're working on with him is that we're regaining some of the velocity that he had lost, really, until last year. And just getting back into the strike zone as often as he had earlier in his career, which I anticipate him being able to do."

The righty said the Twins used visuals like graphs to really break down his strengths and weaknesses in that early camp, and the team also did some hands-on mechanical work, targeting things such as his back foot positioning and his landing spot.

"Making it to the big leagues this year is definitely a big goal of mine," Woods Richardson said. "Wherever I start out, it's where you finish, and that's been my goal ever since I started playing this game. That will never not stop being a goal."

Martin's multiple positions

As the fifth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, Martin was a shortstop. At least that's how the announcers put it.

In reality, that is just one of many positions in the infield and outfield that the 22-year-old can play. Center field, third base, second base, whatever it is, Martin can probably do it.

"There's no preference. I just like playing baseball," Martin said. "So as long as my name is in the lineup, I get to have a bat in my hands, then I'm good."

Hassan said the Twins hadn't really settled on a concrete position for the multitalented Martin. The hope is that wherever he plays, he hits. In 93 games at Class AA last season, he hit .270 with a .414 on-base percentage and .382 slugging percentage, with five homers, 35 RBI, 67 runs, 60 walks and 14 stolen bases.

"There's a couple of things in his swing that we're working on with him to continue to unlock his ability to drive the ball. He does an excellent job controlling the strike zone, has great bat-to-ball skills, he's really good at hitting for average," Hassan said. "And now we're trying to help him impact the ball more consistently to produce some extra bases. He's been real receptive to that work."