The Mariners bolstered their bullpen depth with the signing of Simeon Woods Richardson.
The Seattle Mariners are coming off a stellar series win against the Boston Red Sox, which the former secured with an 8-3 win Wednesday at Fenway Park in Boston.
The Mariners weren't able to get through the series unscathed and saw several injuries and key decisions to their starting rotation and bullpen.
Before the series, Seattle decided to move starting pitcher Bryce Miller to the bullpen. That decision was quickly reversed after fellow starter Emerson Hancock landed on the 15-day injured list Aug. 30 (retroactive to Aug. 29) due to a left adductor strain.
Miller had a solid start against the Red Sox on Wednesday. He struck out three batters, walked one and allowed one earned run on seven hits in 4.2 innings of work. Despite his solid outing, the Mariners still felt the need to be cautious and pulled him after just 65 pitches.
Seattle's bullpen has been one of the most overworked in baseball, having to pitch one man down at points due to the team's occasional six-man starting rotation in addition to high-leverage arms Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Cooper Criswell missing portions of the season.
With the being the case, the Mariners made a move following the Boston series to help add to the bullpen depth in the organization.
Seattle signed right-handed pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson to a minor league contract Wednesday and assigned him to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.
Richardson began the year in his fifth major league season, all with the Minnesota Twins, but has seen several key moves and transitions in the time since. The Twins opted to move him to the bullpen before designating him for assignment May 30 and subsequently trading him to the Toronto Blue Jays in return for cash June 3. He posted a 7.74 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 47.2 innings pitched across 12 appearances (10 starts) with the Twins.
The Blue Jays opted to use Richardson exclusively in a reliever capacity. Amidst several roster moves sending him up-and-down between Toronto and its Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, Woods made eight major league appearances for the Canadian club out of the bullpen. He had a 3.93 ERA and fanned 14 batters in 18.1 innings of work.
Richardson was designated for assignment Aug. 28. After clearing waivers, the Blue Jays opted to assign him outright to Triple-A. The five-year veteran rejected the assignment, making him a free agent and leading to his new deal with the Mariners.
At worst, Seattle will have an experienced major league arm capable of filling in the bullpen or, worst case, the starting rotation if it needs another arm on short notice. Best case, the Mariners will have multiple bullpen arms, in addition to Criswell, with starting experience capable of covering multiple innings, which will likely come in handy as the Mariners are still attempting to secure a playoff spot.
Following Wednesday's win against the Red Sox, Seattle is 4.5 games out of first place in the American League West and 4.5 games out of the final wild card spot in the American League.
The Mariners will head back home to the Pacific Northwest to begin a seven-game homestand, starting with the first of a four-game series against the Athletics at 6:40 p.m. PT on Thursday at T-Mobile Park.
