Right-hander Lyon Richardson, who made a brief appearance with the Milwaukee Brewers during their 2026 World Series championship season, has signed a one-year deal with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization.
The 26-year-old will earn $900,000 in salary plus a $100,000 signing bonus. He is expected to return to a starting role in the KBO after working mostly in relief in recent years.
Richardson’s time with the Brewers was short but clean. After the organization signed him to a minor-league contract in June, he threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his only major-league appearance with Milwaukee and struck out one batter.
The Brewers selected his contract from Triple-A Nashville in August to add a fresh arm during a stretch of consecutive games. He was designated for assignment days later, cleared waivers, elected free agency, and then re-signed with the club on another minor-league deal.
At Nashville, Richardson posted a 4.23 ERA across 22 games and roughly 44-plus innings while striking out 45 batters. Overall at Triple-A in 2026, split between the Reds and Brewers systems, he went 4-4 with a 4.44 ERA in 75 innings.
A second-round pick of the Reds in the 2018 draft, Richardson has appeared in parts of the last four MLB seasons, though the large majority of his big-league work came in 2025. Richardson has a 6.48 ERA, 17.2% strikeout rate, and 14.6% walk rate over 58 1/3 innings and 42 games in the Show, with 37 2/3 of those innings coming in 34 appearances with the 2025 Reds.
He allowed five earned runs in 1 2/3 innings with Cincinnati earlier in 2026 before electing free agency and landing with Milwaukee. Across his full major-league career, he has 47 strikeouts against 40 walks.
Richardson is out of minor-league options, which limited his market for another MLB deal this winter. With a potential lockout looming, the Landers’ offer gave him both financial security and a clear path to regular innings.
The Brewers used him primarily as organizational depth. He never locked down a permanent roster spot in Milwaukee and was outrighted after each brief call-up, a pattern that had already played out with the Reds.
The Landers described him as a groundball pitcher suited to their hitter-friendly home park. According to Baseball Savant, he averaged 96.3 mph with his four-seam fastball in 2026 and also threw a sinker, changeup, slider, and sweeper.
That velocity would have ranked among the hardest-throwing starters in the KBO last season. Richardson missed all of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery and was initially developed as a starter by Cincinnati.
KBO clubs may carry a maximum of two foreign pitchers. Richardson joins returning ace Pedro Avila in the Landers’ rotation.
For the Brewers, the move ends a short association with a former second-round pick who provided depth during a championship run. A strong season in Korea could still position him for another look in the majors in 2027.
He appeared in 41 games with the Reds before his June release and made his major-league debut in 2023. His sole Brewers outing came against the San Diego Padres in August.
