Zebby

Matthews

Matthews was making his final start of the year in his breakout campaign — but it’s worth pointing out that “breakout” happened much more so in the minors than the majors. This start saw him post an ERA of 6.69 on the year, and he wasn’t efficient/effective enough to get five innings in his last four starts. There’s loads of potential in his 24-year-old right arm, but there’s just as much risk with Matthews heading into 2025 as there is reward.

Matthews, who struck out six, was pulled with a 2-0 lead in favor of Cole Irvin after he allowed a two-out double to Ceddanne Rafaela in the fifth. It was just the second hit he’d surrendered in the game, but the Twins didn’t trust him to face Jarren Duran a third time. Duran ended up walking against Irvin, and Romy Gonzalez followed with a three-run homer. Matthews will get the Orioles in his final regular-season start.

The rookie was solid through four innings, allowing only a solo home run to Lane Thomas. He allowed a lead-off single in the fifth inning, got a double play, but then allowed another single, and Rocco Baldelli went to the bullpen. Matthews struck out five on the night and only walked one, posting a 23 percent whiff rate but just a 24 percent CSW. His slider remains a really solid pitch, but he’ll need the rest of his arsenal to take a small step forward to be more consistent in 2025. He’ll take a 6.30 ERA into a start against the Red Sox this weekend.

Irvin was designated for assignment yesterday after posting a 4.86 ERA in 16 starts and nine relief appearances on the season. The Twins could opt to use him in that same swingman role or perhaps insert him into the starting rotation with rookies David Festa and Zebby Matthews battling consistency issues. We’ll need to see how this pans out over the next few days. Randy Dobnak was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Irvin.

It doesn’t look particularly easy right now for Matthews. He’s missing bats, but struggling to put hitters away. He’s throwing plenty of strikes, but consistently missing his spots. He’s finding his way out of jams, but giving up too many homers. It’s easy to forget he started the season in High-A when he forced the Twins’ hand and is getting meaningful innings in a pennant race. Yet, it’s incredibly frustrating to have such a short outing against the lowly Angels. He’s now allowed a homer in five of his six outings and sports an ugly 7.11 ERA, mostly due to one nine-run blow up. He’s lined up for a two-start week starting next Monday in Cleveland before heading to Boston.

Matthews allowed nine hits, seven of which were singles, and struck out four. He dropped to 1-3 with a 7.36 ERA, though he’s looked considerably better than that ERA suggests. Still, he’s going to need to miss a few more bats in order to succeed. He’s a decent play in mixed leagues with a home start against the Reds coming up next.

The rookie had been solid in his first three starts, pitching to a 3.00 ERA across 15 innings with a 13:2 K:BB ratio, but tonight was not his night. The Blue Jays pounced on him early and just kept going, but Matthews did get 12 whiffs on 39 swings for a 31 percent whiff rate and 26 percent CSW. There is still a bunch of upside in his arm, but rookies are going to hit a rough patch once in a while. We would still go back to Matthews in a start against the Rays next week.

When Matthews is on, like this start, he’s a lot of fun to watch. He has a lot of confidence in his fastball, slider, and cutter with the command to throw each in any count and against hitters from both sides of the plate. His slider is the wipe out pitch though and it forced seven swings-and-misses on 15 total swings. He could be a difference-maker down the stretch and is scheduled to face the Blue Jays at home next time out.

Zebby’s own error, plus the first two walks he’s given up as a major leaguer, led to the three unearned runs. The good news is that he wasn’t hit very hard while surrendering six total bases on four hits. Still, this wasn’t a particularly encouraging showing from the 24-year-old. If he fails to bounce back Sunday against the Cardinals, he’ll be droppable in mixed leagues.

Matthews made it through the first inning of his pro debut unscathed but ceded a solo homer to Royals outfielder MJ Melendez with one out in the second inning. The rookie right-hander would allow one more earned run in this one but was solid overall. Matthews didn’t walk a batter, showed good command of the strike zone, and pitched out of some jams with runners in scoring position to end three of the five innings he pitched. Assuming he draws another start, Matthews would be scheduled to toe the rubber on Sunday against the Rangers.