Twins Option Simeon Woods Richardson to Triple-A St. Paul, Signaling Rotation Shakeup Ahead

morris just pitched and has not been good so either festa or zebby

 

This is just a needed reset for SWR.  Remember, he is still rather young so I am confident in his return.

I agree, they sent down SWR so he can work on some things. None of the SPs who will come up will give you over 5 innings. SWR will be back up at some point.

Interesting move.  As I watched SWR the past year plus, am always anxious to see if he would get out of trouble.  Also always seems to struggle to finish five innings.  With that said, the results were good most of the time.  Also seems, at least to me, that he hasn't been as successful this year as last.

So it isn't a shock that they made this move, especially with the need for a starter this weekend.  Expect it will be either Zebby or Festa.  Will give whoever arrives a chance to make a statement that says, "I am here for good."

With France and Bader leaving yesterday's game and today's collision the position player moves, if any are made, are going to much more interesting.  Will McCusker finally get his chance?  Or maybe Fitzgerald?

 

This is just a needed reset for SWR.  Remember, he is still rather young so I am confident in his return.

Agree.

I also believe the rain out forced the issue. They had the rotation set for Guardians/Royals week before the rain with SWR pitching Sunday. By calling up Funderburk instead of a starter I think they had decided to make this move before he took the mound yesterday.

It's a fair decision. SWR has the option remaining, Festa has been excellent and Matthews has shown plenty as well. While I like SWR's range of pitches and ability to battle, he's been the worst starter out of the group so far. Paddack hasn't been a lot better, but has shown more peak value and when you look at their starts SWR has really only had 2 good ones all season. Paddack has had 3 good ones and hasn't had an implosion since his second start and seems to be finding a bit of a groove. SWR really struggled yesterday and it's hard to see him getting deep into games.

I'd like it to be Festa, who did fine the last time he was up and looks ready for the challenge.

I think his development was stunted out of necessity of needing him to start last year before he was truly ready.  He held his own with closely monitored starts so far in the majors.  BUT - hopefully this is just a chance to send him down, get him reset and develop some of the things they would have addressed at AAA last year if they hadn't needed him at Target Field.

Matthews on Sunday per Bobby Nightengale. Nothing official yet. 

4 hours ago, rdehring said:

Interesting move.  As I watched SWR the past year plus, am always anxious to see if he would get out of trouble.  Also always seems to struggle to finish five innings.  With that said, the results were good most of the time.  Also seems, at least to me, that he hasn't been as successful this year as last.

My thoughts mirror these - the guy looks serviceable but he really labors to get through 5 innings. It seems like a typical box score from him will be something like: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3K. 

He seems to escape getting throttled (except yesterday) but never really tosses any gems. He's certainly good enough to pitch in the majors and the fact that the Twins SP depth is deep enough for them to casually send SWR down to AAA says good things. 

He'll be back later in the year, injuries and needed rest for others will make him a nice piece as the dog days of August start to give wear and tear. Having a reserve arm like this is nice insurance. 

This was a bit of a surprise to me. Short leash maybe with Festa and Zebby pitching so well in AAA? I doubt it will be a long-term thing unless who is called up is dominating. 

I think the Twins don't view much gap between SWR, Festa and Matthews as there current 5th through 7th starters. The Twins also like to give these young guys a break or skip a start to keep the total annual innings pitched down and sending SWR can allow for this. Festa just skipped a start (read it was due to arm fatigue) but he is scheduled to pitch in AAA on Friday. Finally, many teams like give these projected future starters several chances to come up and then work on things in AAA. I'm thinking that (and the Twins think they are very close to each other in talent) is the reason it's Matthews over Festa.

It has to be Zebby coming up. He has been great in the minors this year. 7 starts with a 1.93 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 10.5 K/9. I agree that it appears the Twins see Matthews, Festa, and SWR as near equals. I don't see a future where SWR becomes a long term starter. I could see him becoming a great bullpen arm. 

Going into the Guardian series on Monday they probably want the starter that gives them the best chance of limiting the use of the pen. Which of Matthew or Festa is likelier to go deeper into the game?

17 hours ago, rdehring said:

Interesting move.  As I watched SWR the past year plus, am always anxious to see if he would get out of trouble.  Also always seems to struggle to finish five innings.  With that said, the results were good most of the time.  Also seems, at least to me, that he hasn't been as successful this year as last.

So it isn't a shock that they made this move, especially with the need for a starter this weekend.  Expect it will be either Zebby or Festa.  Will give whoever arrives a chance to make a statement that says, "I am here for good."

With France and Bader leaving yesterday's game and today's collision the position player moves, if any are made, are going to much more interesting.  Will McCusker finally get his chance?  Or maybe Fitzgerald?

Due to positional flexibility it just might be Gasper again.

Even with all these moving parts on the team lately, mainly due to the rash of injuries, the move isn't that surprising, but I thought they might just move SWR to the bullpen and try him there instead. But hey, maybe another AAA stint will help him regain some effectiveness and confidence. No idea who gets to replace him in the rotation, but sounds like Zebby is the best choice.

Lots of good comments.  SWR has ALWAYS struggled to get thru 5 innings, but he's been "decent" thru the first 3 or so.  With SWR, I've always felt like he's walking a tightrope.  One false step and he's giving up a 5-spot.  He's been pretty good at working out of jams, stranding runners. 

I disagree that the Twins see SWR, Matthews and Festa as essentially "the same."  Or maybe I should say I don't.  The ceilings of Matthews and Festa are just higher.  Matthews has outstanding command and Festa just has better pure stuff.

I think bean5302 was very insightful when he said SWR, once out of options, is a candidate for the BP, especially if Matthews or Festa (I think it will be Matthews) comes up and stakes a claim to a rotation spot.  OR...SWR becomes a trade candidate.  With position players dropping like flies and a SP needy team like the Orioles or Cubs out there, we could see a trade.

Not saying we WILL.  But bean5302 raised the possibility, and I think he's made an interesting point, at least for further discussion.  

Dr. Gast...calling Dr. Gast !! We need a Twins & Orioles BBTV's TRADE PROPOSAL...STAT !!  What would an SWR trade to the Orioles bring to the Twins??  What about the Cubs?  

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Lots of good comments.  SWR has ALWAYS struggled to get thru 5 innings, but he's been "decent" thru the first 3 or so.  With SWR, I've always felt like he's walking a tightrope.  One false step and he's giving up a 5-spot.  He's been pretty good at working out of jams, stranding runners. 

I disagree that the Twins see SWR, Matthews and Festa as essentially "the same."  Or maybe I should say I don't.  The ceilings of Matthews and Festa are just higher.  Matthews has outstanding command and Festa just has better pure stuff.

I think bean5302 was very insightful when he said SWR, once out of options, is a candidate for the BP, especially if Matthews or Festa (I think it will be Matthews) comes up and stakes a claim to a rotation spot.  OR...SWR becomes a trade candidate.  With position players dropping like flies and a SP needy team like the Orioles or Cubs out there, we could see a trade.

Not saying we WILL.  But bean5302 raised the possibility, and I think he's made an interesting point, at least for further discussion.  

Dr. Gast...calling Dr. Gast !! We need a Twins & Orioles BBTV's TRADE PROPOSAL...STAT !!  What would an SWR trade to the Orioles bring to the Twins??  What about the Cubs?  

The Cubs, Orioles, Brewers, Phillies, Braves...There would be a lot of interested teams I would imagine. The bullpen could be an option, but more end stage in my opinion. As previously stated in a post SWR did run out of steam last season and seemed to loose a bit of focus and sharpness with some of his selection of pitches / location. Simplification of repertoire may be in order in addition to sharpening on focused pitches. It may well be that a skipped start and mental / physical break would be beneficial. It seems a bit early to move this talent just yet - Either to the pen or to another team. 

I disagree with the notion that the Twins have extra pitching. They have a nice amount of pitching but right now I would rather have SWR, Paddack, Feata and Mathews than more prospects. It’s a long season and we are only in mid - May. 

Looks like it'll be Zebby pitching on Sunday. It'd be great if he can pitch a quality start and force the team to keep him up here. Sim needs to work on a few things. If he can improve his stamina and struggles second and third time through the order, he can still be a serviceable back end starter. If not, maybe his place is in the pen. Having a reliever who can give you 2-3 innings is pretty rare nowadays and would be very valuable. I don't think I would try to trade him. Aside from Festa and Mathews our AAA pitching has not looked good so far...