Woods Richardson debuted for Double-A Wichita on Saturday, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings in his start against Arkansas. He gave up no hits and struck out two but issued three walks.
After acquiring Woods Richardson in the July 30 deal that sent Jose Berrios to Toronto, the Twins have slow played the right-hander's integration into the organization. The 20-year-old's organizational debut was delayed in part due to his commitment to pitching for Team USA in the Olympic Games, and he wasn't immediately activated upon returning from Tokyo. Though he was finally cleared to pitch for Wichita over the weekend, Woods Richardson showed spotty control in the start, tossing only 19 of his 40 pitches for strikes. Consistently finding the strike zone had proved to be an issue for Woods Richardson prior to the trade; he submitted a bloated 12.9 percent walk rate in his 11 starts with the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate in New Hampshire.