Derek Shelton Points to Location Issues After Woods Richardson Struggles Again

Derek Shelton Points to Location Issues After Woods Richardson Struggles Again

The Minnesota Twins are 14-20 and running out of patience with Simeon Woods Richardson.

The 25-year-old right-hander took the loss Friday night in a 7-3 defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field, falling to 0-5 on the season with a 6.49 ERA through 34 2/3 innings.

Woods Richardson lasted just 4 2/3 innings, giving up nine hits and four earned runs while striking out only two.

Kazuma Okamoto went deep twice off him, and the Blue Jays were on him from the second inning on.

The Twins have now lost six of his seven starts this season.

The Splitter Problem

After the game, Twins manager Derek Shelton zeroed in on Woods Richardson's splitter and the way hitters have been squaring it up with ease lately.

"It's strange. And I think it's more execution and more location," Shelton said. "When that split is down, he gets swing and miss, he gets soft contact, but when it stays up and in the middle of the plate... we're seeing the results on it of the location of it."

Shelton also added that the home runs both came in deficit counts on pitches left in the middle of the plate, and said the staff needs to continue executing better.

Friday was a perfect example of the problem.

Blue Jays hitters swung at 14 of Woods Richardson's splitters and didn't whiff on a single one, collecting three hits off the pitch.

That same splitter looked like a legitimate weapon earlier this season, especially during a strong outing against the Yankees when it generated eight swinging strikes.