Zebby Matthews Delivers Statement Performance in 2026 Twins Debut

Inflammation in his right pectoral muscle delayed RHP Zebby Matthews 2026 MLB debut to mid-May, but it was well worth the wait. The Twins' 25-year-old pitcher had arguably the best start of his career in Thursday's 9-1 win over the Marlins.

Thursday was Matthews' 26th start of his MLB career. His only other scoreless outing came last July against the Nationals, which lasted six innings. He had seven strikeouts while allowing just two hits in that game. You can argue about whether or not Thursday's performance was better, but it was certainly close.

Matthews allowed zero runs and two hits, while striking out five batters in seven innings of work against the Marlins. He threw 83 pitches before getting relieved by Kendry Rojas. It marked just the third time in his MLB career that he lasted at least seven innings.

His dominant performance comes as a bit of a surprise, because he didn't pitch particularly well with Triple-A St. Paul. He suffered his injury during spring training, so he used seven starts to get back into the groove with the Saints.

He had a 4.72 ERA in 34.1 innings with just 33 strikeouts. He looked like a different player on Thursday against Miami. He will turn 26 at the end of the month, and it looks like he should stay in the big leagues for the foreseeable future.

Matthews received plenty of run support on Thursday with nine runs from the Twins. James Outman and Austin Martin led the team with three RBIs each. Josh Bell had two and Victor Caratini added one more. Five runs in the second inning gave Minnesota a serious cushion. Rojas allowed the only run of the game, but he struck out three batters in two innings of work.

Minnesota won its three-game series against the Marlins and now holds a 20-24 record on the season. The Brewers are next on the schedule with a three-game series starting on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT.

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