Royals' Trevor Richards: Dropped from 40-man roster
Rotowire
The Royals designated Richards for assignment Wednesday.
Kansas City will swap Richards out of its bullpen for a fresh right-handed arm in Jonathan Bowlan, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. After receiving a promotion to the big club Saturday, Richards appeared in three contests and gave up four earned runs on seven hits and two walks over three innings. If he goes unclaimed off waivers, Richards will have the option of electing free agency if he doesn't wish to report back to Omaha.
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Royals' Trevor Richards: Promoted to majors
Rotowire
The Royals selected Richards' contract from Triple-A Omaha on Saturday.
Richards signed a minor-league contract with the Royals on May 9 after being released by the Cubs three days prior. The 32-year-old right-hander struggled with Triple-A Iowa, but he's been better out of the bullpen for Omaha, where he has a 1.69 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, two saves and an 11:5 K:BB across 10.2 innings. Richards will take the spot on the Royals' 26-man roster vacated by Jonathan Bowlan, who was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
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Royals' Trevor Richards: Grabs minors deal from Royals
Rotowire
The Royals signed Richards to a minor-league contract Thursday.
Richards had been cut loose by the Cubs earlier this week after posting a 7.27 ERA and 12:7 K:BB over 8.2 innings at Triple-A Iowa. The righty will report to Triple-A Omaha, where he will give the Royals some relief depth.
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Trevor Richards: Let go by Cubs
Rotowire
Richards was released by Chicago on Monday, Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register reports.
Richards didn't find much success in the early stages of the 2025 campaign with Triple-A Iowa, giving up seven runs on seven hits and seven walks across 8.2 innings in seven appearances (one start). He'll set his focus on finding a new opportunity following Monday's release.
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Cubs' Trevor Richards: Officially invited to camp
Rotowire
Richards was among 20 non-roster players invited to spring training by the Cubs on Friday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.
Richards joined the Cubs last month on a minor-league deal, and he will now officially participate in spring training, where he'll compete for a bullpen job. The righty compiled a 4.55 ERA and 1.21 WHIP across 65.1 innings for Toronto and Minnesota last season. If Richards does make the team, he'll likely have a low-leverage role and figures to be mostly off the fantasy radar.
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Cubs' Trevor Richards: Gets MiLB deal from CHC
Rotowire
The Cubs signed Richards to a minor-league contract Monday, Aram Leighton of Just Baseball reports.
Richards had a 4.55 ERA in 2024 between the Blue Jays and Twins and saw his strikeout rate dip from 33.3 percent to 22.4 percent year-over-year. That said, as a versatile arm with some swing-and-miss ability, he's a solid get on a minor-league contract. Presumably, he'll receive an invitation to spring training, where he'll compete for a bullpen gig.
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Twins' Trevor Richards: Outrighted to Triple-A
Rotowire
The Twins outrighted Richards to Triple-A St. Paul on Monday.
Richards had been designated for assignment following a 4.15 ERA with 11 walks and seven wild pitches in 13 innings after being acquired at the trade deadline. He's no longer on the 40-man roster but will remain in the organization as relief depth at St. Paul.
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Twins' Trevor Richards: DFA'd by Minnesota
Rotowire
Richards was designated for assignment by Minnesota on Tuesday.
The Twins acquired Richards at the trade deadline for minor-league infielder Jay Harry, but he struggled with the Twins. Richards had a 4.15 ERA with 11 walks and seven wild pitches in 13 innings as he could not command his changeup - his key out pitch. The Twins have struggled with finding depth in their bullpen and cut their losses.
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Twins' Trevor Richards: Picks up first save
Rotowire
Richards earned the save during a 6-3 win over the Guardians in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. He struck out one in a perfect ninth inning.
After Jhoan Duran earned the save in the first game of the doubleheader, Richards got the call in the nightcap, setting down Cleveland in order to earn his first save of the year. It's a nice bounce-back effort from Richards, who allowed three runs while issuing five walks in just two-thirds of an inning in his last appearance. Overall, the 31-year-old Richards sports a 4.82 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP and 53:29 K:BB across 56 innings between the Twins and Blue Jays this year.
The Twins acquired Richards on Tuesday in exchange for infielder Jay Harry, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
Richards will provide the Twins with a right-handed option out of the bullpen who's capable of covering multiple innings. The 31-year-old covered 52.1 frames over his 45 appearances with the Blue Jays this season, logging a 4.64 ERA with seven holds and a 49:24 K:BB.
Richards struck out one over two scoreless innings of relief in Monday's 7-3 loss to the Red Sox. He gave up no hits and one walk in the 33-pitch appearance.
He had served as an opening pitcher in front of Bowden Francis in two of his previous five appearances, but Richards looks set to occupy a full-time role in the bullpen moving forward. The Blue Jays are expected to bring back Yariel Rodriguez (back) from the 15-day injured list this weekend in Cleveland, and he'll presumably step into the No. 5 spot in the rotation that had previously been covered by Richards-Francis tandem.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Set to start Saturday
Rotowire
Richards will serve as the Blue Jays' opening pitcher for Saturday's matchup with the Guardians, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com repports.
Richards operated as an opener in the team's 10-1 loss to the Orioles on June 4 and he appears to be set for a similar role Saturday. The right-hander reached his season-high 40 pitches in that matchup with Baltimore and likely won't last long enough to qualify for a win versus Cleveland. Bowden Francis is expected to operate as a bulk reliever once Richards exits the contest.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Serving as opener Tuesday
Rotowire
Richards will serve as the Blue Jays' opening pitcher Tuesday against the Orioles, Mike Wilner of The Toronto Star reports.
Richards has gone more than one inning in seven of his 25 relief appearances this season, including a 3.1-inning appearance last Wednesday against the White Sox. However, he hasn't thrown more than 38 pitches in any outing and will be pitching on just one day of rest after making an one-inning appearance Sunday versus Pittsburgh. The expectation is that Bowden Francis (forearm) will be activated from the 15-day injured list to work in bulk relief behind Richards.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Steps up, earns win Wednesday
Rotowire
Richards (1-0) allowed a hit and a walk over 3.1 scoreless innings to earn the win Wednesday versus the White Sox.
Alek Manoah started the game but left in the second inning due to right elbow discomfort. Richards stepped up with his longest outing of the season to at least partially spare the Blue Jays' bullpen, and he was rewarded with the victory. Richards has a 3.29 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 26:13 K:BB over 27.1 innings this season. If Manoah is forced to miss time, it's unlikely Richards steps into the rotation, as he hasn't regularly seen work as a starter since 2019.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Impressive start to season
Rotowire
Richards walked two and struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief during Sunday's loss to the Yankees.
The 30-year-old right-hander has come up big for the Blue Jays bullpen in the early going while Jordan Romano (elbow) and Erik Swanson (forearm) have been on the shelf. Richards has appeared in six of Toronto's first 10 games, posting a 0.00 ERA and 8:3 K:BB over 5.2 innings while giving up only two hits -- although he did allow an inherited runner to score on a wild pitch Sunday. He hasn't seen a lot of high-leverage usage and only has one hold so far, but Richards' ability to work longer outings and collect bulk strikeouts with solid ratios gives him some fantasy value in deep AL-only formats.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Still sharpening command
Rotowire
Richards allowed one run on two hits and a walk over 1.2 innings of relief during Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates. He struck out two.
The veteran righty has 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings this spring, but he's also issued five free passes as he tries to iron out the kinks before Opening Day. Richards' ability to rack up bulk Ks via his elite changeup, and his flexible role in the Blue Jays bullpen, keep him on the fantasy radar in deeper formats -- over 72.2 innings in 2023 he collected 105 strikeouts, two wins and a career-high 11 holds, but they came with a 4.95 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Gets $2.15 million
Rotowire
Richards agreed to a one-year, $2.15 million deal with the Blue Jays on Thursday, avoiding arbitration, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.
The 30-year-old swing man has made three or more starts in five of his six MLB seasons but he has not logged more than 75 innings since he threw 135.1 frames in 2019. Richards had a 4.95 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 105 strikeouts in 72.2 innings last year.
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Blue Jays' Trevor Richards: Returns from 15-day IL
Rotowire
Toronto activated Richards (neck) from the 15-day injured list Friday.
Richards missed the minimum 15 days because of neck inflammation. He'll return to the Blue Jays' bullpen Friday night against the Reds, holding a strong 2.98 ERA with 83 strikeouts through 54.1 innings this year.
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Player Bio
HT/WT: 6-2, 205 lbs
Birthplace: Aviston, IL
Age: 32
Experience: 7
Bats/Throws: R, R
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