Matthews dazzles in debut as defense, bats provide support

MINNEAPOLIS -- Zebby Matthews' first Major League appearance almost got off to the worst start possible. But it ended the way every pitcher dreams it would.

Matthews pitched five strong innings in his Major League debut while the offense notched 15 hits in support en route to a 13-3 series-clinching victory over the Royals on Tuesday night at Target Field.

At exactly 6:41 p.m. CT, Royals second baseman Michael Massey dug into the batter’s box to face Matthews to open the game. Massey took a pitch before unloading on a high drive to left field. The ball ended up having more carry than it appeared to off the bat, and left fielder Matt Wallner was fighting the sun as he drifted back.

Wallner retreated to the warning track, then the wall, before using every bit of his 6-foot-4 frame to leap and snag the ball, robbing Massey of extra bases.

“It definitely caught my eye there,” said Matthews. “It’s great to have great defense behind you.”

After that, Matthews took a deep breath and exhaled. The Twins' No. 5 prospect then got his first Major League strikeout when he fanned Bobby Witt Jr., getting three straight swing-and-misses, two with his cutter and the final one with an 85.7 mph slider.

Striking out a leading AL MVP candidate is no small feat, but Matthews didn’t seem fazed by the fact that he whiffed one of the game’s hottest hitters.

“Yeah, that’s what they keep telling me, but I try not to focus too much on the hitter,” Matthews said. “You can get caught up in that. Just try to keep focus on what I do well, keep attacking hitters out there and then try to get guys out -- regardless of the hitter.”

Matthews posted five strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter over five innings of two-run ball to pick up his first Major League win. The control artist has now walked just seven batters while fanning 119 in 102 innings pitched over four levels this season.

The 24-year-old right-hander is one of the more remarkable stories in what’s poised to be a memorable season for the Twins. Matthews was the team’s eighth-round Draft pick in 2022. Two years later, he’s on a Major League mound for the first time -- but not before making the journey from High-A Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita to Triple-A St. Paul, all in the past four months.

“He’s accomplishing a lot of really important career goals really quickly,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s getting it done really well. He showed up, he prepared very well, he took the mound and we got a chance to see exactly what we thought we were going to see.”

The only major mistake of his night was an 0-1 cutter that hung in the swing path of MJ Melendez, who crushed it to right field for a 405-foot solo homer in the second. But Matthews found a positive in giving up his first Major League homer.

“I got knocked in the teeth there a little bit, but bounced back and got through the next couple innings,” Matthews said. “So that home run wasn’t necessarily like a wakeup call -- not that I needed it -- but it was definitely like, ‘OK, let’s lock back in here.’”

Veteran catcher Christian Vázquez liked what he saw behind the plate.

“A lot of strikes. All the pitches he can throw for strikes. I was very impressed with him,” said Vázquez, who supported his pitcher with a home run to center in the fourth inning. “First outing in the big leagues and no walks with a lot of strikes. His fastball [had] a lot of carry up and a good cutter.”

Much of the credit can go to Wallner, who not only made the big catch in the top of the first inning, but also doubled to key a three-run bottom of the first for the Twins.

“It’s harder to settle in if that first swing is a ball we don’t make a play on or it’s a double and there’s already action, and you’re already in the stretch,” Baldelli said. “It makes the game more challenging in a lot of ways. It allowed him to really just feel comfortable and focus on making good pitches. So our offense did a good thing by going out there and giving him some runs, and he did his part and then some by making them on the other side uncomfortable.”