The Toronto Blue Jays are welcoming back a familiar face to help their ailing rotation.

Recently designated for assignment starter and former Blue Jays top prospect Simeon Woods Richardson was traded to Toronto from the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, according to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon.

Toronto sent cash considerations in return for Woods Richardson, Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling reported. Joe Mantiply was sent to the 60-day injured list to open up the 40-man roster spot.

The 25-year-old has struggled this season, pitching to a 7.74 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 25 walks over 47.2 innings.

The Blue Jays first acquired Woods Richardson and Anthony Kay from the Mets in the Marcus Stroman trade in 2019. About two years later, they dealt him to the Twins along with their 2020 first round pick, Austin Martin, for José Berríos. Martin and Woods Richardson were the No. 2 and No. 4 ranked prospects in the Blue Jays system, per MLB Pipeline, at the time of the trade.

Woods Richardson made 50 starts over two seasons from 2024-25, logging a 4.11 ERA with 224 strikeouts and 94 walks over 245 innings. But his fastball velocity has been down a half tick in 2026, along with his stuff (stuff+ down from 91 to 87) and his results have faltered.

The Blue Jays currently have only three healthy starters — Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Patrick Corbin — but Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber are all on the mend. Berríos is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and off-season acquisition Cody Ponce is unlikely to pitch again in 2026 due to an ACL tear.

Baseball fans in Buffalo will be treated to high-quality pitching this week as Cease is scheduled to make a Triple-A rehab start on Thursday, Scherzer on Friday and Bieber is tentatively booked in for Saturday.

Meanwhile, Toronto still has plenty of innings to cover, with Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles operating as an ostensible on-turn bulk pitcher and Chad Dallas ready on the taxi squad for a potential role in Thursday’s pitching plan. Woods Richardson will be getting a spot on the major-league roster and has no options remaining, so it stands to reason that he’ll factor in too in the meantime.