Scouting the Saints: Zebby Matthews, Carson McCusker, Emmanuel Rodriguez Show Their Stuff

[Jamie Cameron]

A blustery, cloudy morning gave way to a warm, sunny spring afternoon in St. Paul, as the Saints crushed Indianapolis on Tuesday, running out 16-4 winners in their series opener. Here are notes, observations, and analysis from my live looks in St. Paul.

Image courtesy of © Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

Zebby Matthews
Tuesday was easily Zebby Matthews’s worst start of the young 2025 season. After getting pushed back from starting in Iowa via rainout, the righthander didn’t have his best stuff or his best command. Matthews was pulled in the top of the fourth inning, ending the day with a line of 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Matthews managed 67% strikes on 80 pitches and only gave up two hard-hit balls, though, so ‘worst’ is a relative term here.

Matthews's velocity wasn’t at its best on Tuesday. His fastball topped out at 97.4 mph, after he touched 99.5 mph in his previous start. He didn’t seem to have great command of his fastball, either, and struggled with location in general. Many of his pitches were just off the strike zone, and he labored a little to get into good counts—usually a key area of strength. Matthews dialed back the usage of his fastball a little, in favor of a roughly even split between four-seamers, cutters, and sliders. All of his pitches were still up, velo-wise, from his 2024 numbers. He managed 10 whiffs, including a 40% whiff rate on his slider. While it wasn’t his sharpest outing, the velocity, stuff, and strike-throwing are all consistently in place through four Triple-A starts. He’s close to ready.

Carson McCusker
McCusker continues to defy the odds with his performance at Triple A. The 2023 free-agent signing out of independent ball strikes an imposing figure in the batter's box. Seriously, the bat looks like a matchstick in his hands. He looks every bit of his listed size, 6-foot-8, 250 pounds.

He crushed a grand slam off Carson Fulmer in a low-effort swing, an easy 103 mph off the bat. He also lined out in the bottom of the 8th at 106 mph. While it’s too early to say he deserves some run in the majors, McCusker is making a case for himself. 

Through 16 games in 2025, he’s hitting .298/.385/.684 with 6 home runs. He’s walking plenty (10.6%) and striking out a ton (31.8%). It’s close to top-of-the-scale power, with a maximum exit velocity of 114.2 mph and an unbelievable hard-hit rate of over 60%. All that adds up to a 175 wRC+. It’s a little bit reminiscent of Matt Wallner’s profile, from the right side—though, crucially, without the pedigree, track record, and supplementary tools. 

McCusker’s swing rate is down 10% overall in 2025. He’s clearly going into plate appearances with a better plan. His contact (especially in-zone contact) numbers are a little worrisome, and he’s in his age-27 season, but if he continues to mash, he’s going to be hard to ignore. I wonder if he’ll get any run at first base at St. Paul eventually.

Emmanuel Rodriguez
Emmanuel Rodriguez has had a slow start to 2025. Entering Tuesday’s tilt, he was hitting .228/.362/.281, with just three extra-base hits (all doubles). What’s been surprising is the lack of extra-base production (.053 ISO, compared to .253 in Triple A in 2024). There’s not much in his quality of contact to suggest there’s anything to worry about just yet. Entering Tuesday, his 42.4% Hard-Hit% is in line with 2024, with a similar Max EV of 113.6 mph.

Looking at his plate discipline, Rodriguez has been more aggressive in 2025 (his swing percentage is up about 9%). Despite this, he’s still incredibly patient. He’s actually making more contact overall, and more in-zone contact than in 2024. The challenge, currently, is out-of-zone contact. In a very small sample, Rodriguez is chasing more in 2024. It’s resulting in some weaker contact outside the zone. I think there’s some calibration and adjustment to be done here, as the Twins want him to be more aggressive within the zone. After a couple of ugly initial at-bats, Rodriguez hit the ball hard, twice. A 107-mph single was followed up with a 112-mph single. The approach, patience, and quality of contact are all still there. The extra-base power should be coming soon.

Michael Tonkin
In his first rehab outing at St. Paul, Michael Tonkin was hit hard. He gave up two long home runs and three earned runs in an inning of work, needing 27 pitches to do so. Tonkin’s velocity was down, particularly on his sinker (-3.8 mph compared to 2024), and he left a lot of soft stuff over the heart of the plate. Still, he has time left in his rehab and the Twins bullpen does not have a pressing need for another arm in the immediate future.

Diego Cartaya
I was curious to see Cartaya, whom the Twins acquired in a trade with the Dodgers. It would be helpful to the Twins if either he or Jair Carmago emerged as a capable backup for 2026 and beyond. Cartaya looked clueless at the plate, though, striking out in four of his five trips. He’s running a strikeout rate in the sixties and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dumped from the 40-man roster if and when the Twins need a spot.

Lastly, a request for folks who enjoy minor-league content at Twins Daily. This is a new and different format for prospect content, combining analysis with live looks. If you enjoyed it, please let us know. There’s certainly room to do more, if there’s an audience and an appetite for it. Feel free to leave feedback, too.

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[Cory Engelhardt]

I enjoy this type of stuff. Thank you!

[ladrossetwin]

Always appreciate minor league content and I think live looks is a valuable addition. When reading about the minor leagues I often wonder how much is based on actually seeing the players.

[Chad Freyer]

I enjoyed it. 

 

[bean5302]

Down 2mph, struggling with control. That's worrisome about Matthews. Down 4mph for Tonkin is worse.

The high max exit velocities for Rodriguez are great, and they back up the power numbers he's produced in the past so hopefully we'll start to see the production. Statcast has his EV at 89.3mph average in AAA with lots of pop ups so far on the season. Pretty common to see a drop of 1-2mph on average EVs from AAA to MLB, and that'd put Emma's results below average at best right now.

It'd be interesting to hear what McCusker has to say about the coaching and analytics at the MLB level vs. the Indy league stuff since he's clearly making major adjustments to his game.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Sooooo, the Twins need offensive help and it doesn't really matter what position they play or the level of defense. The DH spot is open and there really isn't anyone set at any position on this team except maybe Correa and Buxton. It doesn't sound like there's anyone at St. Paul ready to come up who could help. It sounds like McCusker may be future option but not yet and the time horizon is very uncertain. Same for Emma, although it looks like he may be even farther out. Is there anybody at AAA that could come up and help the Twins in the batter's box? 

[Mike Sixel]

21 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Sooooo, the Twins need offensive help and it doesn't really matter what position they play or the level of defense. The DH spot is open and there really isn't anyone set at any position on this team except maybe Correa and Buxton. It doesn't sound like there's anyone at St. Paul ready to come up who could help. It sounds like McCusker may be future option but not yet and the time horizon is very uncertain. Same for Emma, although it looks like he may be even farther out. Is there anybody at AAA that could come up and help the Twins in the batter's box? 

Nope. 

[Blyleven2011]

Live from the ballpark ...

Thanks for all the information  ...

[mikelink45]

When a team is desperate it is time to take a chance - give McCusker a chance. 

[Bodie]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

When a team is desperate it is time to take a chance - give McCusker a chance. 

I get that the AAAA team needs a shot in the arm, and the Saints are the logical place to look for the "next guy up".  

Go look at McCusker at the plate in spring training. It is far from encouraging for the long term, let alone short.  Would love to see a big hulking 1B manning Hrbek's position, but he isn’t close right now. 

Give him a minute or two, he might surprise.  Rush this and he's back in Indy ball by the end of the year.

[FlyingFinn]

Zebby is ready when needed. Emma Rodriguez will be ready. Give him time. There is no comparison between him and McCusker - he plays a premium position well, he's faster on the bases, and he will hit good (the one tool McCusker does have a chance to do well). The only question has been health, so far so good this year.

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, Bodie said:

I get that the AAAA team needs a shot in the arm, and the Saints are the logical place to look for the "next guy up".  

Go look at McCusker at the plate in spring training. It is far from encouraging for the long term, let alone short.  Would love to see a big hulking 1B manning Hrbek's position, but he isn’t close right now. 

Give him a minute or two, he might surprise.  Rush this and he's back in Indy ball by the end of the year.

What about him in spring training was so discouraging? How much of him did you watch in spring and how much have you watched of him in AAA? Isn't close? Seriously, how many AAA PAs have you watched of his?

He had 12 ABs in 10 spring training games. 12. You want 12 PAs where he hit .333/.429/.417/.846 to tell us that its "far from encouraging?" You don't think that insanely small sample mixed with his current .298/.385/.684/1.069 AAA line in 66 PAs is a little encouraging?

Luke Keaschall was rushed to the bigs because of injury and it doesn't seem to be breaking him. Back to Indy ball by the end of the year because they gave him a shot at the end of April? A little dramatic, aren't we?

[Bodie]

5 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

What about him in spring training was so discouraging? How much of him did you watch in spring and how much have you watched of him in AAA? Isn't close? Seriously, how many AAA PAs have you watched of his?

He had 12 ABs in 10 spring training games. 12. You want 12 PAs where he hit .333/.429/.417/.846 to tell us that its "far from encouraging?" You don't think that insanely small sample mixed with his current .298/.385/.684/1.069 AAA line in 66 PAs is a little encouraging?

Luke Keaschall was rushed to the bigs because of injury and it doesn't seem to be breaking him. Back to Indy ball by the end of the year because they gave him a shot at the end of April? A little dramatic, aren't we?

I posted here that Keashall was indeed needed as a starter for the Twins to have anything resembling a competent defense. So don't put words into my mouth. 

McCusker simply looked awkward, both at the plate, but especially in the field.  Call him up and we'll be wishing for Galloesque production.  Sorry, but that is what I saw.  No where near a prospect let alone an immediate one.

[laloesch]

I'm not worried about Zebby and Rodriguez.  Give them a few more weeks and then we shall see.  I don't think the Twins are going anywhere this season, so we need these kids on the Saints to show their best stuff and start challenging the major league roster. 

[chpettit19]

4 hours ago, Bodie said:

I posted here that Keashall was indeed needed as a starter for the Twins to have anything resembling a competent defense. So don't put words into my mouth. 

McCusker simply looked awkward, both at the plate, but especially in the field.  Call him up and we'll be wishing for Galloesque production.  Sorry, but that is what I saw.  No where near a prospect let alone an immediate one.

I'm not putting words in your mouth because I didn't say you said anything at all about Keaschall. I have no idea what you said about Keaschall. He was just an example of someone who was rushed because of injury. That is just a statement of fact. If injuries didn't happen Luke Keashcall would not be in the majors.

And if you were watching AAA games you would have seen that McCusker has been having every bit as controlled of ABs as Keaschall has. It's why I asked how many ABs you've actually seen. 

McCusker is very awkward in the field. Nobody is claiming he's a good fielder. Likely never will be. But he's very close to ready at the plate. He's going to K more than we'd like, but he makes good swing decisions and has a plan up there. The few ABs you saw of him a month ago aren't telling the story. You should go watch him for a few games now. He's fun to watch.

[MinnInPa]

i think we need to forget about Tonkin.. even as bad as our relievers are ..is he any better ??? answer is NO! Alcala, Jax..etc they're all gettn shelled ..even Duran is not a himself and his 100mph fastball doesnt intimidate anyone anymore. certainly not a guarantee when he comes into the 9th w a lead

[LambchoP]

I think Cartaya has been given enough of a look. Drop him from the 40 man and give Mccusker his place. If he keeps up this year at the plate, he can then be called up easily. Maybe Cartaya passes through waivers and we can re sign him but I think we really need to look outside the organization for some catching depth. With Vasquez leaving after this year we really need some competent options behind Jeffers. Loving this minor league stuff. With the major league team playing so badly, this stuff is even more fun to follow:)

[Twinsrtheworst]

That same people all calling for McCusker to get some run with the big leagues team now...are the same ones saying we need to lower our K%.  Do we reall6 want a 30-35% k percentage again?  I'm fine with it if he's hitting bombs..but most are not and just keep screaming for the next guy to come up with no idea of who he is as a hitter and then there are roster and position considerations.  But what do I know.

[mark sills]

8 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

I'm not putting words in your mouth because I didn't say you said anything at all about Keaschall. I have no idea what you said about Keaschall. He was just an example of someone who was rushed because of injury. That is just a statement of fact. If injuries didn't happen Luke Keashcall would not be in the majors.

And if you were watching AAA games you would have seen that McCusker has been having every bit as controlled of ABs as Keaschall has. It's why I asked how many ABs you've actually seen. 

McCusker is very awkward in the field. Nobody is claiming he's a good fielder. Likely never will be. But he's very close to ready at the plate. He's going to K more than we'd like, but he makes good swing decisions and has a plan up there. The few ABs you saw of him a month ago aren't telling the story. You should go watch him for a few games now. He's fun to watch.

still  not sure why he isn't converted to first base 

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, mark sills said:

still  not sure why he isn't converted to first base 

Yeah, you'd think they'd have to have at least have him out there before games taking some ground balls. Maybe they hit him some balls on back fields during spring and it was unimaginably bad? He's an athletic dude so you'd think he could be serviceable somewhere.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Interesting, informative article. Thanks Jamie.