3 Twins Pitching Prospects Who Could Follow in Zebby Matthews’ Footsteps

[Cody Christie]

Last season, the Twins saw Zebby Matthews rise from High-A to the big-league level. So, which pitching prospects have a chance to follow in his shoes for next season? I’m glad you asked.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of CJ Culpepper)

Minnesota’s front office has been tasked with creating a pitching pipeline since Derek Falvey stepped into the team’s top baseball operations role in 2016. The Twins saw that pipeline come to fruition last season, with multiple rookie pitchers impacting the big-league roster, including Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, and Zebby Matthews. After their debuts, there were some inconsistent performances, but the team’s future looks bright if the farm system continues producing quality talent. 

Out of the rookie trio, Matthews was an out-of-nowhere story. The Twins took Matthews in the eighth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Western Carolina University. During the 2023 season, he posted a 3.84 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP and 9.6 K/9 while pitching at Low- and High-A. These totals were good, but it didn’t establish him as one of the team’s top pitching prospects. In 2024, he put up video game numbers at High-A and Double-A with a sub 2.00 ERA and sub 0.76 WHIP. He continued to perform as he moved up the organizational ladder, and the Twins needed him in the second half as injuries impacted the big-league roster.

So, what pitchers could be set up to follow in Matthews’s footsteps next season? Here are three options to consider. 

C.J. Culpepper, RHP
Culpepper has already put himself on the radar of Twins fans since being drafted in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. He didn’t start games in college until his junior season but performed well enough to catch the Twins’ attention. In his first full professional season, he posted a 3.56 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP and 9.3 K/9 in 86 innings between Low-A and High-A. It was a strong enough performance for some national prospect lists to include Culpepper in the Twins’ top 20 prospects entering the 2024 season. (Twins Daily had him 13th.)

The Twins sent Culpepper to Cedar Rapids to start last season, and he posted a 2.89 ERA with 10.4 K/9 in 37 1/3 innings. However, he dealt with a forearm strain and was sidelined for approximately two months. The Twins promoted him to Double-A in the middle of August, so he only made six appearances with Wichita before the season ended. Minnesota will have him start the 2025 campaign at Double-A, and he will need to build up his workload since he pitched limited innings last season. He’s already ahead of where Matthews was last season, which could put him on a path to the majors. 

Connor Prielipp, LHP
Twins fans have heard a lot about Prielipp since the Twins took him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Entering the draft cycle, Prielipp was considered one of the best pitching prospects, but he fell to the second round after having Tommy John surgery. In 2023, Prielipp suffered another injury setback as he required surgery last July to address a torn UCL in his left elbow. His injury limited him to 6 2/3 innings during his first professional action. He opened the 2024 campaign on the IL with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Injuries have defined his baseball playing career, but the Twins continue to be excited about his potential upside. 

The 2025 season will be critical for Prielipp and his future impact on the big-league roster. First, he needs to prove he can stay healthy, and then he needs to build up his workload to stick as a starter. It’s easy to look at his injury history and suggest he would be better suited to a relief role. However, the Twins will continue to give him opportunities to start with the potential to shift to a bullpen role in the second half. His electric pitch-mix has made him a prospect to watch and could make him a fast riser in 2025. 

Jeremy Lee, RHP
Lee might be an unfamiliar name to Minnesota fans, but Matthews was also an unfamiliar name entering last season. The Twins took Lee in the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and he split last season between Low-A and High-A. In 79 1/3 innings, he posted a 4.42 ERA with a 1.45 WHIP and 8.8 K/9. He allowed 11 earned runs in his final 8 1/3 innings, which impacted his overall season totals. Left-handed batters did the bulk of the damage against him with an OPS that was nearly 150 points higher than versus righties. 

Lee had elbow surgery in college, so his stuff might continue to improve as he gets further away from that operation. He has a four-pitch mix including a fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup. He didn’t find much success in Cedar Rapids last season, so there is a good chance the Twins will have him start 2025 at the same level. However, there is a chance he will move quickly based on his college experience and pitch mix. 

The Twins are hoping they won’t need to move a pitcher quickly through the upper minors in 2025. On paper, the team has starting pitching depth at the big-league level, but few teams have enough pitching depth when it comes to the rigors of the MLB season. Culpepper, Prielipp, and Lee must continue to develop in the minors and could get an opportunity to impact the Twins sooner rather than later. 

Which pitchers from the low minors will you be watching this year? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[mikelink45]

The injury history and the limited innings make this group interesting, but not as promising as Fest, SWR, Matthews, Morris.  

[arby58]

I believe it highly unlikely that any from this group pitches for the Twins in 2025.

[DJL44]

Tanner Hall is another interesting arm from the 2023 draft.

[LambchoP]

Maybe Culpeper for next year, but for 2025 I'd say we might see Festa, Mathews, Raya and Adams. All these guys need more time in AAA though. Mathews should never have had to jump from A ball to the MLB in one season 

[DannySD]

Zebby made his run with an otherworldly 10.55 career K/BB ratio in milb.

(CJ is at 3.08. Prielipp 4.36 and Lee 2.15 have a pretty SSS)

Another guy who has a shot and is not mentioned very often around here is Pierson Ohl, who had a great 2023 and has a career 6.11 K/BB. 

[Doctor Gast]

None of these pitchers will have a shot in '25, except Prielipp. & he'll make it only as a RP. Like Duran his only shot is at RP, his starting days are over. But that's not bad.

[Blyleven2011]

24 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

None of these pitchers will have a shot in '25, except Prielipp. & he'll make it only as a RP. Like Duran his only shot is at RP, his starting days are over. But that's not bad.

Prielipp has a chance definitely as a relief pitcher in 2025 , but what about canterino , the report is he is healthy for spring training  ...

Two great prospects that haven't stayed healthy  , it only makes sense that they are used in the bullpen to at least start their careers in MLB  ...

[Doctor Gast]

6 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Prielipp has a chance definitely as a relief pitcher in 2025 , but what about canterino , the report is he is healthy for spring training  ...

Two great prospects that haven't stayed healthy  , it only makes sense that they are used in the bullpen to at least start their careers in MLB  ...

Exactly, I get excited in what theyn can do but you have to keep them on the mound.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, DannySD said:

Another guy who has a shot and is not mentioned very often around here is Pierson Ohl, who had a great 2023 and has a career 6.11 K/BB.

Love the way he pitches. He needs a little more velocity as they hit him pretty hard in AA last year. His K/BB is so good because he walks practically nobody. Will need to up that rate to Matthews level. I don't think he will will make it past AAA. Hope I'm wrong.

[Fatbat]

Corey Lewis is also close to MLB. There are many that should get a deep dive into their chances at making it to the show in ‘25. Most of them will hopefully get to refine their craft in the high minors but I can see a half dozen or more knocking down the door by August. 

[thelanges5]

Twins used 8 SP in 2024 so if we trade Paddack we’ll need Matthews and at least 2 more ready for the MLB. Put the pipeline to the test. 

[old nurse]

Last year it took 3 injured pitchers and a prospect failing to get Zebby playing for the twins. I would hope that would not happen this year. As it appears to stand now after 2 current straying pitchers are either injured or ineffective, foe another straight through the system in a year would mean that Nowlin, Raya, Adams, Lewis , and Ohl all failed at developing further. Going from riding a bus in the upper Midwest to MLB is a great story. I just would rather hope it doesn’t happen again 

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

 but what about canterino , the report is he is healthy for spring training  ...

That's always the report for Canterino. I'll believe he's healthy after he's pitched 50 innings.

[twinstalker]

The year before Zebby exploded he had 1.3 BB/9 at A and A+ without injury.  The walk rate and increased velocity combined with health is what got him to the majors.  I see nothing similar from these three guys, especially because they're all injured in their own way.  They'll be lucky to make it through the year, much less make it to the majors.

[Linus]

What I’m interested in is guys that can get MLB hitters out. Zebby hasn’t even proven that much less the rest of these guys. 

[gman]

The mere fact that we have multiple pitching prospects rising to and pitching for the major league team instead dumpster diving in Spring, mid year, late year, winter and most other times to find pitching shows that we are way ahead of where this team has been in more than 20 years. I think 2-3 pitchers will be available to the Twins each year for at least the next 3 years.

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Prielipp has a chance definitely as a relief pitcher in 2025 , but what about canterino , the report is he is healthy for spring training  ...

Two great prospects that haven't stayed healthy  , it only makes sense that they are used in the bullpen to at least start their careers in MLB  ...

Both Prielipp & Canterino need to pitch 30-40 innings (all in the same season) before any talk of them being promoted to MLB Pen.

I like the potential of Prielipp - Canterino - Morris - Raya  (1 or 2 of these guys) joining the Pen in September!!

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Twins used 8 SP in 2024 so if we trade Paddack we’ll need Matthews and at least 2 more ready for the MLB. Put the pipeline to the test. 

How many more weeks until they sign DeSclafani to a Minor League deal???

[bean5302]

31 minutes ago, gman said:

The mere fact that we have multiple pitching prospects rising to and pitching for the major league team instead dumpster diving in Spring, mid year, late year, winter and most other times to find pitching shows that we are way ahead of where this team has been in more than 20 years. I think 2-3 pitchers will be available to the Twins each year for at least the next 3 years.

2022 Twins' top starting pitching prospects being developed and all of them were pretty much can't miss guys in prospect reports.
1. Jordan Balazovic (org 5)
2. Jhoan Duran (org 6)
3. Josh Winder (org 7)
4. Simeon Woods Richardson (org 8)
5. Matt Canterino (org 9)

Total starting pitcher fWAR generated in the 2 years following the 2022 status? 1.8.

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Twins used 8 SP in 2024 so if we trade Paddack we’ll need Matthews and at least 2 more ready for the MLB. Put the pipeline to the test. 

So:

Festa - SWR - Ryan - Ober - Lopez

Lewis - Adams - Matthews - Morris - Raya

FA’s: Martin Perez? - Andrew Heaney? - DeSlafani on Minor League deal???…….all of those 3 push one back to sticking with youth!

How long will it take to realize that Paddack is the “100 inning swing guy” to pitch long relief and 6-8 spot starts through the year? $7.5M is pretty affordable……they know what they got with him!

[DocBauer]

If any of these 3, or anyone else, rises from A ball to the Twins this season either something has gone REALLY RIGHT for said arm, or something has gone REALLY WRONG for the Twins. Right now they would be behind Matthews, Morris, Raya, Lewis, and Adams. 

But if we want to talk about arms that could be fast risers in 2025, these 3 are logical candidates, though as pointed out, Culpepper has already reached AA. I'm betting he gets close to half a season of AAA unless there's just too much depth to allow for such. Prielipp might finish the season in someone's pen to monitor/control innings, but I doubt it's for the Twins. IIRC Lee started slowly, ramped up in the second half with much better results, and a number of those 11 earned runs over his final 8+ were due to the disgusting tip pitching controversy of a certain disgraced and jettisoned catcher in the final game of the season.

A couple strong candidates for a big jump include Ty Langenberg and Tanner Hall, both out of the 2023 draft. Langenberg only tossed 7 innings in 2023 and Hall none, so 2024 was, basically, the debut for both. Ty had a pretty good season. Hall, my preseason pick to click in 2024, was inconsistent but did show progress. Kyle Jones might be another one.

At AA, Macleod and Ohl could be a couple guys ready to take their performance up another level.

[Doctor Wu]

14 hours ago, gman said:

The mere fact that we have multiple pitching prospects rising to and pitching for the major league team instead dumpster diving in Spring, mid year, late year, winter and most other times to find pitching shows that we are way ahead of where this team has been in more than 20 years. I think 2-3 pitchers will be available to the Twins each year for at least the next 3 years.

Good point, As you noted, in the recent past, the Twins didn't have much of any pitchers in the system who were truly worthy of promotion to the big club. That's not the case any longer, and for that we should all be very grateful. Of course, the next step is for some of these pitchers to actually perform well at the MLB level. Here's hoping that they can do it. 

[Reptevia]

What young pitcher could come up and get shelled like a peanut because they are clearly not ready?  Could be anyone. 

[Otaknam]

Lee was a head scratcher on this list because I skimmed the part about giving up 11 earned runs in 8 innings. If Prielipp can stay healthy I like his chances of helping this year. And hopefully it’s as a starter. 

[Otaknam]

The good news is the Twins have a promising starting pitcher pipeline. Hopefully two or three become big league starters and at least number two starters, like Pablo Lopez. 

[jmlease1]

17 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

How many more weeks until they sign DeSclafani to a Minor League deal???

I'd be fine with that? Minor league deal with no promises of promotion and no 40-man slot? sure, seems like perfectly fine insurance policy that would also be very tradable midseason if he's healthy and the Twins didn't have a roster spot for him. Biggest barrier is we might already have too many starters for the AAA rotation.

Minor league "rehab" deals are reasonable business: add in insurance policies at low cost, get to know a player better, and it doesn't hurt your reputation around the league either. Just don't use them to block prospects and/or overpromise them.

[bean5302]

53 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

Lee was a head scratcher on this list because I skimmed the part about giving up 11 earned runs in 8 innings. If Prielipp can stay healthy I like his chances of helping this year. And hopefully it’s as a starter. 

The Twins moved Jeremy Lee to spot starting before the end of the year so it doesn't feel like he's high on the team's radar. Lee pitched to a 7.13 ERA / 5.07 FIP in the 2nd half of A+ ball with a 16% K and 10% BB rate while giving up a ton of hits despite not having a ridiculous BABIP against. Honestly, there's nothing to suggest he's on a successful path right now. Ignoring his bad games to try and get to some more respectable numbers means his lucky games get highlighted as legitimate.

[LambchoP]

I actually think it would be good to keep Paddack or pick up a veteran to be our number 5 SP. This would allow Festa, Mathews, Morris and Raya the time they need in AAA to finish their development. Festa and Mathews especially weren't ready for the bigs last year and it showed.

[nicksaviking]

On 12/22/2024 at 8:20 AM, DJL44 said:

Tanner Hall is another interesting arm from the 2023 draft.

I hope so. So far that draft class of pitchers hasn't popped like the prior classes.