Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson sees promising signs after overhauling delivery

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Simeon Woods Richardson overhauled his delivery, now pitching from a lower arm slot to create more velocity, and the early returns have been promising.

Woods Richardson, the 23-year-old righty, threw eight fastballs that averaged 93 mph during his lone inning Monday against the New York Yankees, peaking at 94.5 mph. It’s a jump from where he ended last year, averaging just under 91 mph with his fastball in his last start of the season at Class AAA.

“He’s got the fastball, coming out of his hand, it looks like it’s going to go below the zone,” Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s angled downward. Most of the time when a ball is thrown like that, it’s a ball, but he has that hop on the pitch that guys end up taking it and take some awkward swings on it. When his stuff is where it’s at right now, he has a chance to be really effective.”

Woods Richardson won’t overreact to one outing, particularly a spring training start where he threw only 17 pitches. One of his big takeaways from last season was exercising patience. He had a terrible start with the St. Paul Saints, compiling an 0-5 record and a 7.68 ERA in his first eight minor league outings. He posted a 7-1 record and a 3.65 ERA in his final 16 appearances with the Saints.

Pitching with more velocity should enhance Woods Richardson’s secondary pitches. He used to pitch with his arm almost directly over his head, but now it looks a bit more traditional, like moving his hand from the “12″ on a clock to a “10.”

“The Twins and me, we came together and said there is probably some untapped potential in there somewhere,” he said. “Let’s see what we can do and make some changes. I was open-minded.”

In a game that featured Opening Day starter, Pablo López, and closer, Jhoan Duran, Twins pitchers were blistered for 17 hits in a 12-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday at Hammond Stadium.

López, who struck out two and gave up three hits in two innings, surrendered a two-run homer to Ramón Urías.

“I had to resist the temptation to go with what I know or what I do best on the mound, because I’m trying to work on things,” López said.

Duran, who threw more splitters than fastballs, retired only two of the six batters he faced. After he gave up back-to-back RBI singles, Twins minor league reliever Michael Boyle yielded a three-run homer to Colton Cowser.

Royce Lewis and Kyle Farmer took first place in the club’s second annual egg toss competition Wednesday morning, sharing a $2,000 prize that Lewis joked will cover his fantasy football losses.

The competition included a round of egg tosses at increasing distance, stretching around 60 feet, until there were four pairings left.

To determine the winner, Lewis held off Alex Kirilloff in a race while balancing an egg on a spoon. Kirilloff, who teamed with infielder Brooks Lee, dropped his egg about 10 feet in front of the finish line before a potential photo finish.

* Bally Sports North announced Denard Span is joining their broadcast team as one of the six rotation analysts alongside play-by-play voice Cory Provus, along with contributions to the pregame and postgame shows. The other TV analysts are Justin Morneau, Roy Smalley, LaTroy Hawkins, Glen Perkins and Trevor Plouffe.

* Kris Atteberry and Dan Gladden will be the primary radio broadcasters with Paul Molitor and Perkins joining as fill-in analysts. Alfonso Fernandez and Tony Oliva return as Spanish-language broadcasters and will call 51 games.

* The Twins have three nationally televised games on their schedule. AppleTV+ will carry two games (May 17 at Cleveland and June 7 at Pittsburgh) and FOX will carry one game (July 13 at San Francisco).

* Austin Martin was scratched from Wednesday’s spring training game because of an illness.