Richardson, 26 this month, was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2018. Cincinnati added him to its 40-man roster in November 2022 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He spent the last three years as an on-and-off depth weapon for the Reds, shuttling between Cincinnati and Louisville.
During those three seasons, he pitched 55 innings in the majors, allowing 6.05 earned runs per nine. He averaged over 95 miles per hour with both his four-seamer and sinker, while also throwing a slider, curveball and changeup. His 51.1% groundball rate was good, but his 16.7% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate were both well below league average. He also threw 199 2/3 Triple-A innings during that period with an ERA of 4.19. His 12.7% walk rate was still rough, but he did strike out 26% of batters.
He was retained in a relief role in 2025 after working primarily as a starter in previous years. The Triple-A results were decent, as he threw 32 innings with a 4.22 ERA, a 23.5% strikeout rate, a 9.6% walk rate and a 50% groundball rate. However, it didn’t really translate to the majors, with a 17.4% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate on the show.
He exhausted his final year of options in 2025, pushing him to the fringes of the roster. The Reds pushed him away on December 27. DFA limbo is normally limited to a week, but the rules are different around the holidays, so Richardson spent nearly two weeks in a liminal space but now has clarity about his situation. This is his first career and he has less than three years of service in the big league. That means he doesn’t have the right to choose freely. He will remain with the Reds as a non-roster player and try to earn his way back to the big leagues.
Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
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