Simeon Woods Richardson (born September 27, 2000) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Minnesota Twins of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Amateur career

Woods Richardson attended

Kempner High School I.H. Kempner High School, better known simply as Kempner High School, is a public high school in Sugar Land, Texas and a part of the Fort Bend Independent School District. It was named after Isaac Herbert Kempner (1873–1967), the founder of ...

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around ...

. He committed to attend the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

. The

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

selected Woods Richardson with the 48th overall selection of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career

New York Mets

Woods Richardson was assigned to the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Mets The Florida Complex League Mets are a Rookie-level affiliate for the New York Mets, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Mets. The team plays its home games ...

, and later promoted to the Rookie Advanced

Kingsport Mets The Kingsport Mets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League from 1921 to 2020. They were located in Kingsport, Tennessee, and were last named for the team's major league affiliate, the New York Mets. The team played its home ga ...

, and posted a 1–0

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

, 1.56

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), and 26 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. He began the 2019 season with the Class-A

Columbia Fireflies The Columbia Fireflies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Columbia, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Their home stadium is Segra Park. The team was previously known as the ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. He was promoted to the Advanced-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League (FSL) in July 2019.

Toronto Blue Jays

Before Woods Richardson could report to St. Lucie, the Mets traded him and Anthony Kay to the Blue Jays for

Marcus Stroman Marcus Earl Stroman (born May 1, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets. Stroman is listed at , making him o ...

. The Blue Jays assigned Woods Richardson to the Advanced-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpar ...

following the trade. Over 26 starts between Columbia and Dunedin, Woods Richardson pitched to a 6–10 record, 3.80 ERA, and 126 strikeouts in 106 innings. He opened the 2021 season with the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seaso ...

of the

Double-A Northeast AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * Do ...

Minnesota Twins

On July 30, 2021, Woods Richardson was traded to the Minnesota Twins along with

Austin Martin Christopher Austin Martin (born March 23, 1999) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Amateur career Martin attended Trin ...

in exchange for

José Berríos José Orlando Berríos (born May 27, 1994), nicknamed "La Makina" (Spanish for "The Machine"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Minnesota Twins, ...

. He was assigned to the

Wichita Wind Surge The Wichita Wind Surge are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Wichita, Kansas, and began play in 2021 at Riverfront Stadium. The Wind Surge were supposed to b ...

of the

Double-A Central The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Over 15 games (14 starts) between the two teams, he went 3–5 with a 5.91 ERA, 77 strikeouts, and 34 walks over 53 innings. He opened the 2022 season back with Wichita, and the Twins promoted Woods Richardson to the St. Paul Saints of the Triple-A International League in August. Woods Richardson made his MLB debut for the Twins on October 2, 2022. Woods Richardson was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul to begin the 2023 season.

International career

In May 2021, Woods Richardson was named to the roster of the

for qualifying for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. After the team qualified, he was named to the Olympics roster on July 2. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods Richardson, Simeon 2000 births Living people African-American baseball players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball players from Texas Columbia Fireflies players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Mets players Kingsport Mets players Major League Baseball pitchers Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Minnesota Twins players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Olympic baseball players of the United States Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball People from Sugar Land, Texas St. Paul Saints players United States national baseball team players Wichita Wind Surge players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople