Is Simeon Woods Richardson the Twins' Top Pitching Prospect?

[David Maro]

Here's a thought,pitching is hitting a target.And so far SWR is doing that,he is keeping the ball out of the middle of the zone.As for Varland his mentality is he can beat the hitter with his stuff.If you watch the two,one throws 93 and has kept the ball in the yard the other not so much at 98.

[jorgenswest]

The prospect designation is pretty useless. Which teams have the best 25 and under talent? That is so much more important. At that age you expect growth.

Option status is also far more important than prospect status. Celestino and Martin had virtually the same performance with the bat last year at the same age. Celestino was out of options. Martin had three. The options make Martin much more valuable though they may be very similar in their careers going forward.

At some point Woods Richardson will move past the arbitrary prospect status line. He will still be younger than many of the pitchers in the list and he will have played at a more challenging level. He will still have options that he will likely need to reset and adjust in AAA. Isn’t that what matters?

[KBJ1]

SWR off today. Back to reality when you throw 0-2 meatballs right down the middle. I said last week this bullpen was smoke & mirrors.

Twins are in trouble without Stewart, Topa, Varland in the pen.

 

[Lunger]

11 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

BTW - is that a Doc Holliday, Tombstone reference with your handle? If so, love it!

Absolutely is a Doc Holliday reference!

 

[gil4]

10 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I think you have a personally adjusted viewpoint of what an "Ace" was. All pitchers threw tons of innings in the very old days, but it's been exceptionally uncommon to see complete games over the past 20 years.
10 years ago the Twins had 2 complete games. Hughes (1), Nolasco (1).
20 years ago the Twins had 4 complete games. Santana (1), Radke (1), Silva (1), Lohse (1).
30 years ago the Twins had 6 complete games. Tapani (4), Erickson (2).
40 years ago the Twins had 32 complete games. Viola (10), Smithson (10), Butcher (8), Schrom (3), Williams (1).
50 years ago the Twins had 43 complete games. Blyleven (19), Decker (11), Goltz (5), Albury (4), Corbin (1), Butler (2), Hughes (1)

I recognize 2 of the 7 names that threw complete games for the Twins in 1974. 

I had to do the math and check it twice before I was convinced that 1974 was the 50 years ago list.  😧
I recognized 5 names on the list and could supply the first names for them.  I thought maybe looking up the first names might help me remember Butler and Hughes. It didn't. 

I don't know how I don't remember a guy who won 16 games for them in '75, but I don't.  I do remember his 1976 baseball card with the weird shadow on his face, but I don't remember listening to or watching a game in which he pitched. 

[jimbo92107]

Sim is a good prospect, but more important, he appears to be holding his own as a starter. As the 5th guy, we're not supposed to expect him to dominate, and he's not. However, he's clearly a fighter, and when he makes the pitches his catcher calls for, his stuff is competitive. Also, he doesn't appear to run out of gas after a few innings, which is nice. 

As for Festa and Raya, what can we say? Does it even matter if their stuff looks more "electric" than SWR's? Heck, after Ryan came along, I thought Falvey and Levine had come up with an endless crop of late-round hurlers. I thought Sands looked great. I thought Winder looked great. Both guys were bringing mid-90's heat at the knees. I thought Dobnak was going to dominate - and he did, until his finger betrayed him. 

Point is, so many guys look great, until they face their first few starts in the show. Then, if anything can go wrong, it will. Frankly, it's a little strange if nothing goes wrong. SWR is becoming a strange example. His big heater isn't really there, yet so far, he is surviving. 

Keep being the exception, Sim. Keep surviving.

[ToriiRules!!]

The twins under Falvey cannot develope starting pitching it’s been what 6 years or so and Bailey Ober is the best we have!!!!

[bean5302]

22 hours ago, Ghost of Kirby Puckett said:

Yes, I know that's what they'd like to do, but it still makes zero sense. You'll never have any idea what his capabilities could've been holding him to these ridiculous pitch count/ innings limits. I operated on strict pitch limits my whole life and do the same with every kid I've coached or private instructed. But this is some next level stuff. Grooming a guy to start for 2 or 3 innings is just, yuck. Some ivy league pencil neck who has never thrown a ball in his life came up with this. Glad I passed on that Princeton scholarship offer looking back now🤭

I can only assume the Twins have determined Raya's shoulder can't handle a starter's workload. He lost all of 2021 to a shoulder strain, and then he was slowed down in 2023 by shoulder tightness. I think Raya is probably in that Josh Winder category for durability, and the Twins have recognized it's probably going to be an issue going forward so they're looking to find out where the durability runs out and the shoulder starts bothering him.