Twins Option Zebby Matthews, Finalize Rotation Plans
The Twins announced Friday that they’ve optioned right-hander Zebby Matthews to Triple-A St. Paul. They didn’t formally say it, but that effectively sets Minnesota’s rotation heading into the season, barring a late injury or trade.
Minnesota did, however, formally name Joe Ryan the Opening Day starter today. That was a foregone conclusion after Pablo López was lost for the season due to UCL surgery early in camp. Right-handers Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson were more or less locks entering spring training. Ober had a rough stretch last summer while trying to pitch through a hip injury but has been a steady third/fourth starter in Minnesota for several seasons otherwise. Woods Richardson has been up and down between Minneapolis and St. Paul over the past two seasons but had a strong finish in ’25 and is out of minor league options.
The rest of the rotation looked less certain following López’s injury. Matthews and fellow righties David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel were vying for the final two spots. All four were ranked as top-100 prospects prior to their major league debuts, but none has fully solidified himself in the majors yet. Festa went down early with a shoulder injury that isn’t expected to necessitate a long-term absence but will send him to the injured list to begin the season. Matthews, Bradley and Abel were in a three-man competition for the final two rotation spots. With Matthews now optioned, it’ll be Bradley and Abel rounding out the staff.
Bradley came over from the Rays in exchange for Griffin Jax just minutes before the trade deadline last summer. He’s had some success at times in the majors but lacked consistency. However, he’s celebrating his 25th birthday today, so he’s plenty young and still has four seasons of club control remaining. Bradley has had a good spring showing. His 4.50 ERA in 14 frames is unremarkable, but he’s punched out a huge 32.2% of opponents against a solid 8.5% walk rate. His fastball velocity is up nearly a mile per hour this spring, sitting at an average of 96.9 mph, and he’s sporting an above-average 12.5% swinging-strike rate.
Abel, 24, is another deadline pickup for Minnesota. He came to the Twins from the Phillies in last July’s Jhoan Duran swap. Abel is a former first-round pick who for years ranked as a top-100 prospect. He was leapfrogged in the Phillies’ system by Andrew Painter, and a shaky 2024 season in the minors caused Abel to fall off of national prospect rankings. He bounced back in a big way in Triple-A last year, posting a pristine 2.20 ERA, 28.6% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 98 1/3 innings. The 6’5″ righty matched that production through his first four MLB starts with the Phillies but struggled thereafter, allowing nine runs in his next 4 2/3 innings before being shipped to Minnesota.
Abel has looked dominant this spring. In 18 innings, he’s held opponents to a flat 2.00 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate against just a 4.5% walk rate and kept 53.8% of batted balls against him on the ground. In this spring’s small sample, Abel has upped the usage of his slider and changeup while scaling back how frequently he uses his two-seamer. The results, clearly, have been quite strong.
Matthews, 25, has pitched in parts of two seasons with the Twins already. He’s logged very good strikeout and walk rates (24.7%, 6.6% respectively) but been far too susceptible to home runs. He’s a pronounced fly-ball pitcher who has seen nearly 15% of his fly-balls leave the yard; that’s led to an average of 1.77 homers per nine innings pitched.
Matthews sat better than 96 mph with his heater last season, pairing it with a plus slider and plus command. He’s yet to find an average third offering, as his changeup has been hit hard. If he can dial in a third pitch to help keep lefties off balance, he could yet emerge as a mid-rotation starter. Righties are flummoxed by that slider, but lefty hitters have turned in a huge .316/.372/.572 slash against him in the majors. Obviously, that won’t cut it.
The Twins will send Matthews to Triple-A to continue working on rounding out his arsenal. It’s possible that he and/or Festa could eventually emerge as bullpen options, particularly if Bradley and Abel can carry their spring performances into the regular season. The Twins have a number of interesting upper-level arms on the cusp of MLB readiness beyond that pair, including Kendry Rojas, Andrew Morris, Dasan Hill, Marco Raya (who’s moving to the bullpen full-time this season) and top prospect Connor Prielipp.
Poll: Who Will Be The Odd Man Out In The Twins’ Rotation?
The Twins traded 11 players at least year’s deadline, shipping out several rental veterans and a series of controllable relievers that left them with one of the game’s worst pitching staffs in the second half. That hit to the team’s more immediate competitiveness came with the upside of adding to an already impressive cache of starting pitching talent, however. Spring injuries to Pablo López and David Festa have thinned the herd, but the Twins have more viable starters than they can fit into a five-man rotation.
Righties Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are locked into spots. Ryan has been one of the American League’s most consistent starters in recent seasons. Ober has been a solid third/fourth starter for the bulk of his career but saw his 2025 numbers tanked by a catastrophic June. Simeon Woods Richardson is a heavy favorite to land a rotation spot since he’s out of minor league options and pitched well down the stretch in 2025.
Looking at the team’s optionable starters, there are a few who seem unlikely to make the rotation at this point. Lefties Kendry Rojas and Connor Prielipp and righties John Klein and Andrew Morris have yet to make their MLB debuts. They’ll likely start off in Triple-A, though any of the bunch could fight his way into a rotation spot later in the year. Putting Woods Richardson in the rotation and eliminating the players who have yet to debut in the majors from the conversation leaves three arms — Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, and Zebby Matthews — for two spots.
Bradley, acquired last summer for Griffin Jax, is the most experienced at the big league level of the three. Once a consensus top-25 prospect in the sport, he made it to the majors with Tampa Bay in 2023 and has mostly stuck in their rotation since. He’s not yet enjoyed much in the way of results as a big leaguer, however, as demonstrated by his 4.86 ERA in 75 appearances (73 starts).
Bradley’s ERA+ peaked at 97 in 2024 and sits at just 85 for his career. His peripherals are better than his results, and his career 4.00 SIERA does offer some confidence about his ability to perform at the big league level. He won’t turn 25 until next month. Bradley is still young enough to be capable of breaking out in a big way, but he’s also young enough that spending time at Triple-A is hardly outlandish.
Matthews is about ten months older than Bradley but is less experienced in the majors. The right-hander has a similar resume in a smaller sample. He’s made just 25 big league starts, and while his 5.92 ERA is ugly, a 4.41 FIP and 3.80 SIERA both offer some reason for optimism.
Matthews has a career 24.7% strikeout rate against a 6.6% walk rate. That’s good for a K-BB% on par with high-end arms like Kevin Gausman and Freddy Peralta. Much of his struggles in terms of results surely has to do with an incredibly high .359 BABIP, which figures to come down across a larger sample. He also took a notable step forward in 2025 relative to 2024, as his barrel rate plummeted from 14% down to a more acceptable 9.9%, while his hard-hit rate dropped to 38.8%. Matthews’ struggles at the big league level might be enough to keep him out of the rotation to start the year, but the underlying metrics on the former top-100 prospect could warrant a longer look.
As for Abel, the right-hander is by far the least experienced in the majors. He made his MLB debut just last year and won’t turn 25 until August. He posted a 6.23 ERA in a 39 inning cup of coffee last year between the Phillies and Twins. That would make it easy to write Abel off for the Opening Day roster, but he has considerable pedigree as a recent top-100 prospect and has opened eyes this spring with a dominant performance. Abel has fired off ten scoreless innings in three starts with 13 strikeouts, good for a 39.4% clip. Bradley (seven runs in 14 innings, 19-to-5 K/BB) and Matthews (seven runs in six innings) haven’t been as sharp. Spring numbers only count for so much, of course, but Abel has made a stronger case for himself than his competition.
How do MLBTR readers expect the Twins to decide who gets left out of the Opening Day rotation? Will they leave off Abel due to his lack of experience, overlook Matthews’ strong peripherals, or not be swayed by Bradley’s experience? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will be the odd man out in the Twins' rotation?
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Zebby Matthews 54% (1,435)
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Mick Abel 35% (916)
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Taj Bradley 11% (288)
Total votes: 2,639
Twins Place Zebby Matthews On 15-Day IL, Reinstate Danny Coulombe
2:21PM: Matthews has been feeling some shoulder soreness for a couple of weeks, and some increased discomfort after the start on Wednesday led to the team’s decision to put him on the injured list. “It’s not something we’re too concerned with,” Matthews told the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters. “It seems to be something we can respond to, hopefully, pretty quick….It’s mainly during the last part of the throw is when I feel it. Everything else, it feels pretty good. We’re just trying to get it to loosen up and get back to feeling normal.”
9:18AM: The Twins announced that right-hander Zebby Matthews has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 5) due to a strain in Matthews’ throwing shoulder. In the corresponding move, Minnesota activated left-hander Danny Coulombe from the 15-day IL.
The unwelcome news on Matthews come out of nowhere, as there wasn’t any indication that the 25-year-old was hurting coming off his best start of the season. Matthews limited the A’s to one run on four hits and three walks over five innings in the Twins’ 6-1 victory on June 4. Even that solid outing lowered Matthews’ ERA to only 5.21 over 19 total innings this season, though advanced metrics (such as a 3.31 SIERA, 30.1% strikeout rate, and a .375 BABIP) indicate that Matthews has deserved better than his inflated ERA.
It looked like Matthews had performed well enough to keep his spot in the Twins’ rotation, though Pablo Lopez‘s extended absence might have gotten Matthews more starts out of sheer necessity. With Matthews himself now out of action, the Twins will have to dig deeper into their depth chart to cover two rotation spots. David Festa had been installed into Lopez’s place, and Simeon Woods Richardson will likely be recalled from Triple-A to take over for Matthews.
Neither Festa or Woods Richardson have pitched well this season, so there will be even more pressure on Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, and Chris Paddack to continue carrying the rotation. It is fair to wonder if Minnesota might look to the waiver wire or try to swing a low-level trade to add some veteran depth to the pitching mix, though adding a more prominent arm on the trade market isn’t likely to become a reality until closer to the deadline. The severity of Matthews’ shoulder strain is also naturally a factor, as the urgency for pitching depth would diminish if Matthews is able to return before the end of the month.
The bullpen will at least get a boost with the return of Coulombe, who last pitched on May 14 before an extensor strain in his left forearm sent the veteran reliever to the IL. Coulombe has yet to allow an earned run over 16 2/3 innings and 19 appearances for Minnesota this season, and he has an outstanding 3.3% walk rate and 31.7% strikeout rate to go along with that spotless ERA. The Twins had been operating without a left-hander in their bullpen prior to Coulombe’s activation, as Kody Funderburk was optioned to Triple-A on Friday.
In other Twins bullpen news, Michael Tonkin restarted his minor league rehab assignment and tossed a scoreless inning for Triple-A Saint Paul last night. Tonkin has yet to pitch in the majors this season due to a mild rotator cuff strain suffered during Spring Training, and his previous rehab assignment was halted a month ago due to biceps tendinitis.
Twins Place Danny Coulombe On 15-Day IL, Call Up Zebby Matthews
The Twins announced four roster moves this morning, including the news that left-hander Danny Coulombe was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left forearm extensor strain. Between Coulombe’s placement and yesterday’s placement of Byron Buxton on the seven-day concussion IL, Minnesota filled those two open roster spots by (as expected) selecting the contract of outfielder Carson McCusker and calling up right-hander Zebby Matthews from Triple-A. Matthews will get the start today in the Twins’ game against the Brewers. To open up a 40-man roster spot for McCusker, infielder Luke Keaschall was shifted from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
Coulombe hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, so it would seem that the southpaw’s forearm issue may have been lingering for a few days. As scary as any forearm-related injury seems, Coulombe might miss only a few weeks or a relatively short amount of time if he has only suffered a minor strain. More will be known about Coulombe’s situation or recovery timeline will likely be revealed when manager Rocco Baldelli briefs the media later today.
Coulombe underwent a Tommy John surgery way back in 2011 during his college days at Texas Tech, and he had a more recent elbow issue just last June when he had bone spurs removed. That latter procedure cost Coulombe almost three and a half months of the 2024 season, though he was able to make it back to the Orioles’ roster for a few appearances in late September.
Baltimore still opted to decline its $4MM club option on Coulombe for the 2025 season, and the 35-year-old then entered free agency and signed a one-year, $3MM pact with Minnesota. That deal has proven to be one of the more underrated moves of the entire offseason, as Coulombe has been nothing short of excellent — the lefty has yet to allow a run over his 16 2/3 innings, and he has a stellar 31.7% strikeout rate and 3.3% walk rate. A perfect strand rate and a .205 BABIP hint at some regression, but even those metrics boost Coulombe’s SIERA to only a still-superb 2.18.
This great year has now unfortunately been interrupted by injury, and Kody Funderburk is now the only healthy left-hander in Minnesota’s bullpen. Anthony Misiewicz, Richard Lovelady, and Brady Feigl are at Triple-A if the Twins wanted to add another southpaw, but none of those pitchers are on the 40-man roster. The Twins’ bullpen has been so good this season that they may be able to get by with just one lefty if Coulombe doesn’t miss too much time, but obviously losing Coulombe is a hit to the club’s relief corps.
Simeon Woods Richardson was optioned to Triple-A earlier this week, opening up a spot in Minnesota’s rotation and giving Matthews another crack in the big leagues. One of the Twins’ top pitching prospects, Matthews made his MLB debut in 2024 to mixed results, as he has a 6.69 ERA over 37 2/3 innings. Despite some respectable secondary numbers (24.3% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate), Matthews was undone by the long ball, as he surrendered 11 home runs in his brief time on the Twins’ roster.
Matthews had only 19 innings of Triple-A experience in 2024, but he has looked good during a slightly more extended stint in St. Paul this year. Matthews has a 1.93 ERA, 28.1K%, and 6.7BB% in 32 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2025, with just a lone home run allowed. Getting anything remotely close to this production would be a huge help for the Twins this year and it would reinforce Matthews’ status as a future rotation building block going forward.
Speaking of highly-touted prospects, Keaschall had an 1.065 OPS over his first 26 career Major League plate appearances before he suffered a fractured forearm after being hit by a pitch. Keaschall was put onto the 15-day IL at the end of April and it was just a matter of time before he was shifted to the 60-day, as the infielder is expected to need multiple months to recover.
Twins Option Simeon Woods Richardson, Likely To Promote Zebby Matthews
1:08pm: The Twins are planning to recall Matthews for what’ll be his first major league look this season, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He’ll likely get the ball for Sunday’s series finale. Nightengale adds an ominous note that Festa’s last start was skipped over due to arm fatigue, although the promising righty is slated to start Saturday’s Triple-A game.
10:21am: The Twins optioned righty Simeon Woods Richardson to Triple-A St. Paul following yesterday’s tough start, per the team. Left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk, who’d been with the team as the 27th man in Minnesota’s doubleheader versus the Orioles, will stay in the big league roster in his place.
Woods Richardson has been a constant in the Twins’ rotation dating back to last April. He’s been solid on the whole, working to a 4.36 ERA with a 20.7% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate across 171 1/3 innings, but his recent work has been lackluster. Woods Richardson has lasted fewer than five innings in four of his past five starts. He pitched into the sixth inning and held the Angels to one run back on April 26, but that’s the only time in the past month he’s completed five frames.
The three most recent starts for Woods Richardson have been particularly problematic. Beyond their abbreviated nature, he’s been tagged for a combined 10 runs and seen his command suffer considerably. Since the calendar flipped to May, Woods Richardson has pitched 13 1/3 innings and allowed 10 runs (6.75 ERA) on 15 hits (four homers) and eight walks. He’s walked 13.6% of his opponents against an ugly 15.3% strikeout rate and served up four of his eight home runs during that span.
A team optioning its fifth starter isn’t always headline news, but Woods Richardson’s demotion is a bit more notable given both a relatively lengthy run in starting five and the presence of two high-end young starters with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate: right-handers David Festa and Zebby Matthews. Both ranked among the game’s top-100 prospects prior to their respective MLB debuts last year. Matthews is still prospect-eligible and sits at the No. 46 spot on Baseball America’s recently updated top-100 list.
Festa, 25, was hit hard in his first two big league starts last year but settled in with a 3.81 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in his final 11 major league turns down the stretch. He started three games for the Twins earlier in 2025, pitching 13 innings with a pristine 1.38 ERA. Over his past 14 MLB starts, the 6’6″, 185-pound righty — nicknamed the “Slim Reaper” — carries a 3.34 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. Since being sent back to Triple-A last month, he’s tossed 11 2/3 innings and held opponents to three runs (2.31 ERA) on six hits and no walks with 14 punchouts.
Not to be outdone, the 24-year-old Matthews has started seven games in Triple-A this year and logged a sparkling 1.93 earned run average. The 6’5″, 225-pound righty has set down 28.1% of his opponents on strikes and walked a sharp 6.7% of his opponents. Matthews’ 2024 debut was the inverse of Festa’s first MLB look; he was terrific through three starts before being trounced for nine runs by the Blue Jays on Aug. 31. In his final six starts, he pitched just 22 2/3 innings and was tagged for 23 runs.
Both Festa and Matthews have the makings of potential long-term rotation pieces for the Twins. That’s not to say Woods Richardson won’t get another chance. He’s still only 24 himself and won’t turn 25 until September. This is also Woods Richardson’s final option year, so the Twins will need to find a role for him heading into the 2026 season. Righty Chris Paddack is a free agent at season’s end, and injuries can arise at any time to create further opportunities, of course.
For the time being, the Twins have Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Paddack starting games. Festa, Matthews and Woods Richardson are all on the 40-man roster and in the mix for the last rotation job, though it seems Woods Richardson is shifting to the back of the line for the short term, at the very least.
The Twins will start Paddack today (2.51 ERA, 20.2 K%, 7.8 BB% over his past six starts) and then go to Ryan (2.74 ERA) and Lopez (2.77 ERA) against the Brewers on Friday and Saturday, respectively. They’ll need to bring up another starter for Sunday’s series finale in Milwaukee, as Ober would only be on three days’ rest. They could also push Ryan and Lopez back a day, as Matthews is slated to start tomorrow and Festa would also be on full rest if summoned for Friday’s game.
Twins Sign Scott Blewett To New Minor League Contract
TODAY: Blewett rejected the outright assignment to become a free agent, but then quickly re-signed with the Twins on a fresh minors deal, according to the righty’s MLB.com profile page.
Aug. 16: Blewett cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A St. Paul, per the Twins’ transaction log at MLB.com.
Aug. 13: The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander and top pitching prospect Zebby Matthews, a move that was reported yesterday. In a corresponding move, the club has designated right-hander Scott Blewett for assignment.
Blewett, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Twins over the winter and was selected to the big league roster last week. He made one appearance for the Twins and pitched a perfect inning of relief with one strikeout. He’s spent the rest of the current season in Triple-A St. Paul, where he’s totaled 51 2/3 innings of 3.66 ERA ball with a 23.2% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and a 40.6% ground-ball rate for the Saints.
A second-round pick by the Royals back in 2014, Blewett pitched a combined eight innings in the majors with Kansas City in 2020-21. He’s since bounced around pro ball, also spending time in the White Sox and Braves systems in addition to a nice stint with the Uni-President Lions in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League last year.
Now that he’s been designated for assignment, he’ll hit outright waivers in the coming days and be made available to all 29 other clubs. Waiver priority is determined by reverse order of the MLB-wide standings and is not league-specific. If Blewett goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, by virtue of the fact that he’s been outrighted previously in his career (most recently by the 2021 Royals).
Twins To Promote Zebby Matthews
The Twins are calling up top pitching prospect Zebby Matthews, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He’ll join an injury-plagued rotation and make his MLB debut the first time he takes the mound. Matthews isn’t yet on the 40-man roster, so Minnesota will need to make a corresponding move to formally select his contract.
Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey acknowledged last week that Matthews was very much in the mix for a call to the big leagues in the wake of Joe Ryan‘s Grade 2 teres major strain — an injury that puts the remainder of Ryan’s season in jeopardy. The Twins currently have Tuesday’s starter listed as TBD.
Matthews, the Twins’ eighth-round pick in 2022, posted sub-2.00 ERAs in both High-A and Double-A before his recent promotion to Triple-A. He’s had two solid starts and two rough starts at the top minor league level. Collectively, the 24-year-old has logged a 2.60 ERA with an impressive 30.5% strikeout rate and a staggering 1.8% walk rate across those three minor league levels. He’s fanned a hefty 114 opponents and issued just seven walks in 97 innings this season.
Though he boasts elite command, Matthews is hardly the type of soft-tossing finesse pitcher one would expect for someone with that type of location. His heater sits in the mid-90s and tops out around 97 mph. Matthews is listed at 6’5″ and 225 pounds, though Baseball America’s scouting report notes that the “massive” righty “seems to be larger” than his listed height and weight. Matthews works with a five-pitch arsenal, complementing his four-seamer with a cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. Both BA and The Athletic’s Keith Law write that none of the five pitches are true plus offerings, but they each play up because of his precision.
Matthews has ridden his breakout season all the way to the No. 61 spot on Baseball America’s recent update to their top 100 prospects, where they note that he has perhaps the best command in minor league baseball. Law ranks Matthews 60th in the sport, and MLB.com has him as their No. 100 prospect.
With Ryan shelved perhaps for the duration of the season — manager Rocco Baldelli said his injury would take “weeks or months” to heal — Minnesota will lean on a rookie-heavy starting staff down the stretch. Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober give Minnesota some healthy veterans atop the staff, but they’ll need righties Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa and now Matthews to step onto the staff. Right-hander Louie Varland, who opened the season as the No. 5 starter, could also factor in down the stretch, although he’s had a rough showing both in the big leagues and the minors this year.
Woods Richardson has emerged as a solid mid-rotation arm this year, logging 3.78 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate in 102 1/3 innings (20 starts). Festa, a fellow top-100 prospect alongside Matthews, was hit hard in his first two big league starts (12 runs in 10 innings) but has a 2.04 ERA in 17 2/3 innings since. He’s yet to work more than five innings in a big league game, however. Matthews will be the next man up. The Twins remain hopeful that Ryan will return this season, and righty Chris Paddack is also expected to rejoin the rotation at some point, but he’s still on the 15-day IL with a forearm strain.
Matthews won’t be able to pick up enough big league service time to get a full year in 2024, meaning he’ll still be under club control for an additional six seasons — even if he’s never sent back down from this point on. He’d currently be on track to reach arbitration eligibility in the 2027-28 offseason, although future optional assignments to the minors could impact both his arbitration and free-agent timelines. He’ll join a growing pitching pipeline in the Twins organization, where Lopez, Ryan and Ober are signed/controlled through 2027 and each of Woods Richardson, Festa and Varland are (like Matthews) controllable through at least 2030.
Twins Showing Interest In Rich Hill
The Twins have been in contact with veteran left-hander Rich Hill, who hosted a showcase for big league scouts earlier today, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. The Red Sox were also in attendance for Hill’s showcase, WEEI’s Rob Bradford tweets, though it’s not clear whether they’ve spoken to Hill about a potential reunion. The Yankees and Dodgers were previously connected to Hill and thus presumably also in attendance this morning.
Minnesota’s interest comes at a time when Joe Ryan was just diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of the teres major muscle in his right shoulder that puts the remainder of his season in jeopardy. Ryan joined righty Chris Paddack on the 15-day IL earlier today, leaving Minnesota with an inexperienced group of options — Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Louie Varland — behind veterans Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober in the starting rotation.
Hill, 44, has said since last year that his plan for the 2024 season was to pitch — but only in the season’s second half. The southpaw signed a one-year deal with the Pirates in the 2022-23 offseason and pitched well early before beginning to show signs of fatigue. He still managed to eat up 146 1/3 innings between Pittsburgh and San Diego (who acquired him at last year’s trade deadline), but it was generally a tale of two seasons for Hill. The lefty notched a respectable 4.34 ERA and matching FIP through his first 15 starts, punching out 21.1% of his opponents against an 8.6% walk rate. In his final 63 1/3 innings, he was torched for a 6.82 ERA with a 17.7% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 1.71 HR/9.
Waiting until later in the season affords MLB’s elder statesmen some perks beyond potentially keeping him fresh. Most importantly, Hill has spoken on record before about the additional time he was able to spend with his family, coaching his son’s team (link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). Signing in August also ensures that he’s able to land with a club that has a good shot at making the postseason.
Minnesota would fit that bill. The Twins have been in second place in the AL Central and holding onto an AL Wild Card spot for most of the season. At 63-50, the Twins are 3.5 games behind Cleveland in the division, but they’re also hosting the Guardians for a four-game set this weekend that would shake up the top of the division if Minnesota can manage a sweep. (They’re currently leading the Guards in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader.)
Hill is no stranger to the Twins organization, having pitched there during the shortened 2020 season. Injuries limited him to eight starts, but he posted a 3.03 ERA in 38 2/3 innings as a Twin and reached the postseason that year. Bradford spoke to a scout who was at Hill’s showcase this morning, noting that the lefty threw more than 100 pitches and looked “impressive” (X link). Hill himself tells Bradford that he believes he’s built up to the point where he’s ready to go throw five or six innings in a start right now (video link).
Hill isn’t the only reinforcement the Twins are pondering, though second alternative is nearly half Hill’s age. Top prospect Zebby Matthews has skyrocketed up prospect rankings this season on the back of a dominant showing in High-A and Double-A. He was recently bumped up to Triple-A St. Paul, and president of baseball operations Derek Falvey confirmed to the Twins beat that Matthews is under consideration for a promotion to the majors.
“I think Zebby’s definitely in the conversation,” Falvey said this afternoon (X link via KSTP’s Darren Wolfson). “Obviously, he’s pitched exceptionally well for the whole year all the way through levels he’s been at. He’s now at Triple-A and knocking on the door. With the injuries we have, he’s certainly in the conversation. As we think about the needs for next week, he’s certainly a name that we’re talking about.”
Matthews, the Twins’ eighth-round pick in 2022, already looks like a nice find for the organization. The right-hander posted sub-2.00 ERAs in both High-A and Double-A before his recent promotion to Triple-A. He’s had two solid starts and two rough starts at the top minor league level. Collectively, he’s posted a 2.60 ERA with an impressive 30.5% strikeout rate and a staggering 1.8% walk rate. Matthews has fanned a hefty 114 opponents and issued just seven walks all season.
Matthews has ridden that breakout season all the way to the No. 61 spot on Baseball America’s recent update to their top 100 prospects, where they note that Matthews has perhaps the best command in minor league baseball. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranks Matthews 60th in the sport, and MLB.com has him as their No. 100 prospect.
Falvey also added that the aforementioned Paddack is still expected back this season. He’s “tracking really well,” per the Twins’ baseball ops leader (X link via The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman) and could begin a throwing program in the near future. Paddack has had a Jekyll-and-Hyde season, at times looking dominant and others looking fatigued in his first full season back from the second Tommy John procedure of his career. He’s twice punched out 10 hitters in a game and allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his 17 starts. However, he’s also had starts where he’s been rocked for seven runs and nine runs, leading to a 4.99 ERA on the season.
Paddack’s 88 1/3 innings this season are already more than his combined total from 2022-23 while he underwent and rehabbed from that Tommy John procedure. Nevertheless, the Twins plan to use him as a starter when he’s ready to return, per Falvey. There’s no clear timetable for that yet, but if he can begin a throwing progression soon, a return sometime next month seems feasible. Paddack last pitched on July 14 and has been out since with a forearm strain.