The Toronto Blue Jays scored some help for their beleaguered starting rotation on Wednesday night, acquiring starting pitcher Simeon Woods-Richardson from the Minnesota Twins.
Woods-Richardson had just been designated for assignment by the Twins. Because he’s out of options, the Jays will need to add him to the 26-man roster in the coming days.
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As noted by Mitch Bannon of The Athletic, the Blue Jays are just giving up cash considerations in the deal. Woods-Richardson figures to immediately get a starting rotation spot, as the Jays are dealing with several injuries on that front: Bowden Francis, Jose Berrios and Cody Ponce are all out for the season while Shane Bieber, Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer are on the injured list right now. Toronto has been using openers and bulk relievers in two different rotation spots to cover for those issues, so Woods-Richardson will help alleviate the issue.
Ironically, Woods-Richardson was a former Blue Jays farmhand who was traded to Minnesota in the deal that originally brought Berrios from Minnesota to Toronto.
Now 25 years old, Woods-Richardson is a career 12-17 pitcher with a 4.76 ERA. He won seven games a season ago, pitching to a 4.04 ERA in 23 games.
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This season, he’s had no such luck, going 0-7 with a 7.74 ERA. His seven losses lead baseball. He’s struck out only 26 batters in 47.2 innings.
—Alejandro Kirk, who has played in just five games this season because of a broken left thumb, began his rehab assignment with Single-A Dunedin on Wednesday. He homered to right field in his second at-bat and if things go well, we could see him back in the big leagues next week.
–The defending division champions have lost three straight games after pulling to .500 last Friday, and the task isn’t any easier on Wednesday and Thursday against the Atlanta Braves, who own the best record in baseball. Atlanta beat Toronto on Tuesday night in game one of the series.
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But while the present looks rough for the Jays, the future got a little brighter on Wednesday morning as Baseball America announced that the Jays now have three Top 100 prospects in the updated June rankings. Arjun Nimmala (No. 48), JoJo Parker (No. 60) and Nolan Parry (No. 85) are those top three. None of the players appear particularly close, though Nimmala is currently playing at Double-A New Hampshire.
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