Woods Richardson, Manoah put up four zeros against Yankees' A lineup

RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, acquired from the New York Mets in the Marcus Stroman deal, was impressive facing seven hitters without allowing a hit and walking one.

March 4, 2021

By Andrew Hendriks

Canadian Baseball Network

A pair of highly-touted Blue Jays prospects made their Grapefruit League debut during Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees in Tampa, and both lived up to their formidable reputations.

Simeon Woods Richardson, the prized prospect in the three-player deal in July 2019 that sent Marcus Stroman to the New York Mets, was the first out of the gate.

Ranked as Toronto’s No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 20-year-old product of Sugarland, Tex., struck out Giancarlo Stanton on three pitches in the second and showcased all four of his pitches in the two-inning, hitless effort.

“I loved every minute of it,” said Woods Richardson in a Zoom call on Wednesday. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. I was glad I got to face their best guys.”

All told, the seven batters -- D.J LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Brett Gardner and Gary Sanchez -- he faced have a combined 5,745 games of big-league experience and have accounted for 14 all-star selections, one Rookie of the Year nod, an American League batting title, and a National League MVP award.

Toronto’s No. 5 prospect Alek Manoah followed Woods-Richardson’s appearance in the third and went on to strike out four of the seven batters he faced in his two frames.

Manoah was also unfazed by the Yankee veterans, attacking the zone and hitting 97.8 mph on his fastball. His slider clocked in as low as 81.2 MPH, which was good for 16.1 MPH of separation between the two pitches.

“At the end of the day, it’s still 60 feet, six inches,” said Manoah. “It doesn’t matter who’s in the box; you gotta go out there, get ahead, stay ahead and just try to put them away.”

Keeping tabs from the bullpen, the 23-year-old said he was paying close attention to how Woods Richardson was attacking the Yankees lineup.

“It’s like golf. The first person to putt kind of shows the line,” he said. “So (Woods Richardson) was showing me the line a little bit. Pitch to contact, throw strikes and let the defence work. It doesn’t matter if they’re the Bronx Bombers or not. Let’s just go out there and throw the ball over the plate and challenge them.”

Watching the two up-and-coming hurlers take the mound for the first time in game action on Wednesday, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo liked what he saw.

“Usually (prospects) are nervous a little bit,” said Montoyo. “So they’re wild a little bit early. But these kids were not nervous, and that’s a good sign. They came through, and I was impressed.”

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