Zebby Matthews made his major league debut in 2024 after beginning the year at High-A Cedar Rapids. Drafted in the eighth round in 2022, he ascended the minor leagues rather quickly and didn't face much adversity until he reached Triple-A with the Saints.
In his time in Triple-A, he was bit by the home run bug, which followed him to Target Field.
In High-A and Double-A, he only gave up three home runs in 78 innings pitched. Matthews had 37.2 IP in his cup of coffee and gave up 11 home runs in that time. He has climbed the Twins prospect rankings and MLB prospect rankings, ranking No. 73 in Baseball America's most recent top 100 prospects.
Matthews is showing promise, even if the results after being called up last season were not what he or the Twins planned. He had nine starts with a 6.69 ERA but did have 43 strikeouts in the 37.2 innings. Matthews took the ball in the Twins first game of the spring on Saturday and threw two innings and had two strikeouts.
He followed that up with five more strikeouts against the Orioles on Friday.
Matthews is one of a few starters toward the end of the rotation but will likely start the year at Triple-A St. Paul. Just because he may not make the Opening-Day roster, does not mean he won't pitch in the majors a good amount. He, along with David Festa, will be the first pitchers called up when the Twins need a starter.
Zebby Matthews was pumping today, averaging 96.6 mph on his fastball—up 1.7 mph from last season.
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 22, 2025
With his deep arsenal, he should be in the mix for consistent innings as a starter for the Twins. pic.twitter.com/QkTokaUHYN
It's clear there was a bumpy introduction to the majors, but Matthews can use what he learned, and if he keeps the ball in the park like he has shown the ability to do at other levels, positive results will follow.
Given his upside and the fact he is pitching his age-25 season in 2025, Matthews can cement himself as a mainstay in the rotation for the next handful of years. Matthews has clear upside and is someone you can expect to see a good amount at Target Field, not just in 2025, but for the foreseeable future.
Zebby Matthews threw one pitch at 97 mph or above in the majors in 2024 out of 717 possible.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 22, 2025
In his first inning today, Matthews threw seven. He topped out at 96.5 mph in a perfect second inning. #MNTwins
ZiPS projects Matthews to start 24 games and have a 4.05 ERA in 122 innings pitched. If these results are where Matthews ends up, that is a massive success for him and the Twins' pitching development.