Twins 0, Blue Jays 15: Zebby Shelled

[Sherry Cerny]

The Twins were shut out by the Blue Jays, but that's not the worst part of the night. Jose Berrios’ redemption game left the Twins and fans alike shaking their head in disbelief. 

Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews 2 IP, 10 H, 9 ER,  1 BB,  5 K (69 pitches, 45 strikes (78%))
Home Runs: 0
Bottom 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (-.462), Trevor Larnach (-.017), Matt Wallner (-.014)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

The Past vs. The Present
Saturday night’s pitching matchup had some history as it was a rematch of last year’s Game 1 of the Wild Card round. Tonight’s matchup - Jose Berrios versus Zebby Matthews - has some history, too, but in a more philosophical vein. 

When Berrios was traded from the Twins to the Blue Jays in 2021, many assumed the Twins’ impetus was primarily financial. Berrios had talked openly about looking forward to free agency. The reality was that any contract extension to extend his time as a Twin wouldn’t include any significant hometown discount. Indeed, after being traded to the Blue Jays, he did sign an extension, but that 7-year, $131M contract reflected costs similar to what he might have made as a free agent. 

However, looking at the path the Twins have taken since then, especially with their starting pitching, suggests there may have been a philosophical component, too. Berrios was drafted, developed, and made his Major League debut while Terry Ryan was the Twins GM. Berrios was a bit of an outlier compared to other pitchers that Ryan’s group developed. He was shorter (6’ 0”), had higher velocity (93 mph fastball), was drafted out of high school, and displayed a higher strikeout rate than, say, Kyle Gibson, Scott Baker, or Kevin Slowey. But like them, he was an early draft pick (1st round) and steadily marched through the minors, duplicating his stuff and success from level to level. 

On the other hand, his rival tonight represented the prototypical template of Derek Falvey’s overhaul of the Twins' pitching pipeline. Matthews was not a high draft pick (8th round). His velocity (95 mph) and stuff have jumped considerably from when he was drafted. And his progression through the minors has been anything but slow and steady; he started this year in A ball.

This is not to say that Matthews will have anywhere near Berrios' career. Indeed, projecting any pitching prospect to match that career thus far - starting 238 games with a career 4.10 ERA and 1319 punchouts - is more than optimistic. Plus, at only 30 years old, Berrios is not done yet. 

But in retrospect, it’s easy to see that Berrios did not fit the template that the new Twins front office had in mind for their future, especially given his future cost. Berrios can be seen as representing the last example of a different era for the Twins. Matthews, along with Bailey Ober and David Festa, represents a very different philosophy for how to find, develop and leverage starting pitchers.

A Totally Different Story
Tonight, Berrios outlasted Matthews, completing 6 innings and gave up no runs. Matthews, meanwhile, lasted two innings and did not return for the third inning after the Blue Jays hung nine on the rookie, leaving the bullpen to fight through the remaining innings. The Blue Jays continued to stomp on the Twins pitching pushing the score up 15-0, and the bleeding only stopped when the game ended. Honorable mention goes to Kyle Farmer who pitched the last inning for the Twins. He allowed one run, which seems insurmountable.

The Twins offense was unable to compete against Berrios arsenal early in the game. They made an effort to start coming back in the sixth inning when Berrios started to give up hits, but the RISP continued to be an issue and the guys were left stranded. The Twins didn’t remain hitless, but they didn’t get any runs, getting completely shut out by the Blue Jays, their fifth shutout this season.    

What’s Next? 
The Twins continue with the Blue Jays in the last game of the series with Bailey Ober (12-6; 4.06 ERA) taking the bump against Yariel Rodriguez (1-6; 4.82 ERA) at 1:10pm EST, in hopes to secure the series before heading out on a long road trip starting with Tampa Bay starting on Monday. 

Postgame Interviews
 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

John Bonnes contributed to this story.

 

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[mikelink45]

This is a game worth forgetting.  Zebby stunk, Tonkin stunk, Blewett was okay, Thielbar was okay and Farmer only gave up 3 in two innings.  

Meanwhile on the offensive side we had 4 hits. One extra base hit. 

This was one big smack down.

What is next?  We are 3 - 9 for the last dozen games.   Is this what we expect against teams over 500?  If so forget the playoffs, I believe those teams will have winning records. 

[BH67]

Pitches thrown: Twins 202, Blue Jays 93. Zebby was due for a bad night at this stage of his MLB career. I'm impressed that he and Festa are learning on the job so quickly. In Red Green-speak, they are awesome duct tape.

The bats have a grand total of eight hits the last two nights, and not even Correa and Buxton can remedy that on their own. Since those two will be prone to long stays on the IL for the rest of their careers, the rest of the lineup needs to figure this out now.  This collective famine has to end soon...doesn't it?

[Marcos]

Um, you are just figuring this out now?

[Aerodeliria]

I think we need to find a way to get Josh Bell from the Diamondbacks. Sure he flew out, but you have to admit this takes a lot of talent...

 

 

[thelanges5]

Absolutely brutal end of the month. Hard to believe we went 14-14 in August. 
 

27 games remain and only 2 more off days. 
 

This team has been Jekyll and Hyde this year. Who’s going to show up in September?

[tony&rodney]

They took a shower and flushed it. It's gone and tomorrow there is another game. Focus will be on Ober to pick it back up after the last harsh outing but the bats need to step out into the bright sunlight.

[D.C Twins]

 

[Jocko87]

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Fear and arrogance, Zebby.

[stringer bell]

Well, they’re starting three rookies in their rotation. One reliever has been DFA’d by three different teams this year (including the Twins), another was a minor league signing. Three guys not on the major league roster on Opening Day are getting regular at-bats as well as two guys who were sent down for bad performance in the first half of the year. It’s approaching a month since either of the two highest paid position players have played. Yeah, the cupboard is pretty bare. I’m not at all confident this team will make the playoffs. 

[dberthia]

[Chad Freyer]

If you score zero runs, it doesn't matter how may you give up. 

 

[Blyleven2011]

Not pretty , very disgusting  actually , nothing positive  to report from this game , offense and pitching sucked  ...

I think this was their 8th shutout of the season  , article stated 5 ...

And farmer pitched 2 innings and gave up 3 runs , article stated 1 inningand1 run ...

Can't believe I watched the whole game ...

[JADBP]

This is what you get when the Front Office doesn’t give a damn if you win or lose…

[Doctor Wu]

Urrgghh ... an absolutely brutal game. Nothing positive on offer, and it looks like no hope of getting any reinforcements for the bullpen for the next month, other than the usual revolving cast of current Twins players going back and forth across the river. 

[CRF]

WOW! What an effing beatdown! Embarrassing! Not to mention...absolutely ZERO offense again. Time to suck it up guys and get it going here, because if you don't...the Tigers will catch us and put us in 4th place in the div. Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Playoffs?

[David HK]

Are you shirting me?

"Gulfa" Tonkin is a Twinkie again? 😲

Cats and dogs, living together, mass hysteria....

[Nashvilletwin]

10 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

This is a game worth forgetting.  Zebby stunk, Tonkin stunk, Blewett was okay, Thielbar was okay and Farmer only gave up 3 in two innings.  

Meanwhile on the offensive side we had 4 hits. One extra base hit. 

This was one big smack down.

What is next?  We are 3 - 9 for the last dozen games.   Is this what we expect against teams over 500?  If so forget the playoffs, I believe those teams will have winning records. 

3-9 since that debacle in Texas.  That disaster of a loss could end up being the turning point of the season. Huge swing in mojo that day.  And they haven’t gotten it back.  

[mikelink45]

I hope Ober gives Zebby some advice on how to handle being blown out - he has the experience to share with him.

[Karbo]

Does anyone have another sausage to spare?

[Whitey333]

Ugly game all around.  I look for Ober to pitch well and Twins win on Sunday.  Twins have scored a grand total of 3 runs the last 3 games on a total of only 15 hits.  3-9 in last 12 games and it's been very ugly baseball. Fans blaming loss of Buxton and Correa.  But  the veterans left that want to contribute more than just sitting on the IL need to produce.  

[Old Crow]

Is Farmer worth more as a RP?

[Doctor Gast]

Zebby got pounded, which is to be expected sometime in his rookie season. The thing is he needs to learn to get it behind him, get up fighting & make adjustments. Rich Hill would have been ideal in this situation & for other rookie's experiences for he has that presence which consouls rookies besides his valuable mentorship. (LHP) Rich Hill just started to get ramped up for BOS, 2.2 innings, 0.00 ERA, 3 Ks, 0.00 WHIP. Hill was my 3rd choice (FA), Eovaldi was not available,  (LHP) AJ Puk has pitched 14.2 innings, 0.61 ERA, 22 Ks, 0.682 WHIP for AZ, We need patience with all our rookies. They all have potential.

[old nurse]

The 2 highest paid position players are on the injured list. The top 100 rookie player is also there. The recent top 100 player is in a slump. The All Star player has reverted back to the player that was non tendered. What would one expect to happen?  Bad management to have signe all of these players in the first place? There seeme to be a lot of happy people when these players were going well 

[LambchoP]

I really like Zebby and think he has a good chance at a long starting career, but he should never have had to pitch in the majors this year. The kid started the year in A ball. I just hope him being rushed this year doesn't hurt his development. Start him in AAA next year and let him get his mojo back. Hopefully we can re call him up when he's ready, not when the Twins just need someone. Of course, none of this matters if the lineup can't score any runs. Margot and Kepler both seem pretty beat up. Do we finally get to see Keirsey?

[terrydactyls]

I'm just glad the Twins are in the soft part of the schedule and are playing sub-.500 teams.

[saviking]

Am I dreaming, or have Ober twice and Mathews once been left in until they gave up nine or ten runs in the first few innings? Is there a need for that? A learning season? Because it seems like too slow of a hook to me.  

[DJL44]

32 minutes ago, saviking said:

Am I dreaming, or have Ober twice and Mathews once been left in until they gave up nine or ten runs in the first few innings? Is there a need for that? A learning season? Because it seems like too slow of a hook to me.  

Once you're down 6 runs in the first it's probably worth riding it out to see if you can get some innings out of the guy and save the bullpen.

[AKTwinsFan]

He didn't get much support from his catcher and pitching coach. Usually a catcher goes out to talk to the pitcher (mound visit) to calm him down, especially after a HBP and 2 HR hit. Instead after he gives up so many runs Pete Maky finally goes out and Baldelli replaces him after 9 runs and game over. It's not helping the offense can't hit fast balls or anything in the zone at that.