The Minnesota Twins are running short on playoff caliber pitching help, as we get ready for the 2nd half of the Major League Baseball season to begin this weekend, following the All-Star break.
Today marks exactly two weeks until the MLB trade deadline (July 30). Thus, there isn’t much time for this Twins’ front office to add the starting pitching help they need need, via trade. And if they do make a move between now and then, the cost will be extreme because Minnesota needs a front-rotation starter, not a bottom-rotation warm body to eat innings.
But do they have any help that could come from inside the organization? At first glance, the answer is no. Simeon Woods Richardson would have been that guy, but he is already up with the big league club, and pitching extremely well.
Meet Minnesota Twins meteoric pitching prospect, Zebby Matthews
Other obvious options, like Louie Varland and David Festa have failed to take advantage of the MLB opportunities they’ve earned thus far. But on Tuesday, a new starting pitcher arrived at Triple A, St. Paul. His name is Zebby Matthews and he is having one hell of a year.
If his time with the Saints ends up anything like what he has already done at Single A and Double A this year, Matthews will be on a big league mound in no time.
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In 78 innings (12 starts) between High A, Fort Myers and Double A, Wichita this season, Matthews has a 1.85 ERA, a 0.76 WHIP, 96K/6BB ratio and a .456 OPS against. Those are numbers that would be nearly impossible to achieve in MLB The Show, on beginner difficulty. Zebby has done it in real life.
The Minnesota Twins drafted Matthews in the 8th round (Mo. 234 overall) of the 2022 MLB Draft and he has impressed since the moment he stepped on a professional bump.
Yes, his numbers this season are even more impressive than what we saw last summer, but his career 2.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, .564 OPS against and 10.1 K9 in 186.1 innings pitched are nothing to sneeze at.
How can Zebby Matthews help the Twins playoff rotation in 2024?
If Zebby Matthews carries his first half success over to St. Paul, there is absolutely no doubt we will see him make his big league debut this season. Will his first ever MLB pitches be thrown wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform? That’s another question.
If the Twins front office is going to find front-rotation help for the playoffs, it’s unlikely they will be able to entrust that responsibility to anyone currently in their organization, whether that’s Matthews or someone else.
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Nonetheless, Zebby would be a great place to start, if trying to convince a selling team that you have the best trade package to offer them for a legitimate playoff-rotation starter. We know the Twins aren’t trading their top prospects, like Brooks Lee or Walker Jenkins. That leaves little options to dangle outside of Zebby, Emanuel Rodriguez, Matt Wallner and Jose Miranda (who just went on the IR).
So whether it’s via trade, or call-up, I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see this meteoric riser go from a single A mound all the way to the MLB by the end of October.
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