Twins fans who don’t know the full story of Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews might view the 6.69 ERA he posted in his rookie year as disappointing. They are overlooking his meteoric rise – from Eighth round draft pick to the majors in two years, which was fueled by an increase in velocity.
Apparently, he’s not done yet.
Last year, Matthews’ four-seam fastball averaged 94.9 mph. In yesterday’s first spring outing – where velocities are usually lower – he threw 14 four-seam fastballs. The slowest was 95.4 mph. The fastest was 97.3 mph and the average of those pitches was 96.5 mph. He did all this while registering 19 strikes in the 29 pitches he threw.
It was not unexpected. “So far this spring, I’ve been sitting around 95, 97. So, can’t really complain too much about that,” said Matthews after the game. “Feel like we’re in a good spot.”
“We” includes the Twins, since they will likely have him stashed in St. Paul as the #2 option if the Twins need to swap out a member of their starting rotation. That depth is something the team lacked last year when they rushed him to the majors. It’s also something that can come in handy if the team needs to make some deals during the season or at the trade deadline to aid their pursuit of regaining the AL Central crown.
Automatic Balls Strikes (ABS)
In the first inning, Matthews gave up a lead-off double, but got out of the inning thanks to catcher Christian Vazquez challenging a “ball” call by the umpire. The call was changed to a strike upon further review, and that third strike call ended the inning. Matthews was not so sure.
“I was like, I might be away a little bit,” said Matthews. “But no, we clipped the zone. So that was cool to see.”
MLB is using spring training games as a testing ground for a “challenge” system for Automatic Balls & Strikes or ABS. Within seconds after the umpire’s call, the catcher, batter, or pitcher may challenge it. The challenge is announced, and almost immediately, the pitch is put on the scoreboard, allowing fans to see it from various angles and zoom in on it to see if it edges the zone.
In the case of Matthews’ pitch, the edge of the ball touched the strike zone.
That’s a strike. Last year in Triple-A, the average challenge took 17 seconds, and yesterday’s crowd cheered for the dramatic result.
Matthews’ reaction also shows another aspect: that pitchers might not be in the best position to challenge. Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli talked earlier this week about how the team might handle these when they come to real MLB games.
“You’re going to see the catchers using opportunities to challenge behind the players, and the hitters should do it,” said Baldelli. “The pitchers are not in a position to do this as well as those other guys. They’re just not. It’s been proven that’s the case.”
The team worked with the system starting on Thursday in live BP. Everyone was encouraged to try it to gain experience. In games, a team can challenge calls until they miss two; then, they cannot challenge calls for the rest of the game.
But in spring training games, Baldelli isn’t worried about the penalties for challenging too many. These games don’t count, and he feels it’s important for players to become comfortable with the process by using it.
Justin Topa Gives Up A Run But….
Justin Topa pitched the third inning of Saturday’s game and gave up the Twins only run on three singles to his first four batters.
Twins fans didn’t see Topa much last year due to a knee injury and other setbacks, so I expect I’ll get some questions about today’s performance. Here’s what I saw.
One of the singles was hard hit. One was a soft hit. The three singles came on three different pitch types: cutter, sinker, and changeup.
His sinker and cutter had about the same velocity as they had in 2023 when he was with Seattle. And he got out of the inning by relying on a sweeper for six of the last eight pitches he threw. The results weren’t great, but I also didn’t see any red flags.
Luke Keaschall is Already Hitting
Like Matthews, Twins infield prospect Luke Keaschall launched himself up the prospect charts last year (landing at #3 on Twins Daily’s list) before having to shut down his season for Tommy John surgery.
We likely won’t see him ready to play in the field until mid-March, but driving in two runs off the first pitch he sees this spring is encouraging. Because, also like Matthews, he could end up having a role on the team before the end of the year.
