Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month: March/April 2025

[Matt Braun]

Once again, we'll take a close look at the best youngsters the Twins minor league teams had to offer, and crown one pitcher as the best of the best, while also spotlighting the other performers who deserved attention.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Zebby Matthews)

Before we get to the list, let me quickly explain how I like to analyze starters. Innings are king; the ultimate point of pitching is to accrue outs, so I use innings as the center of my statistical solar system, in which everything else revolves around. That means I have a bias towards older players, which I try to account for and adjust. Then, I'll evaluate how effective a player was at run prevention, which, again, is the ultimate job of pitching. Although they are presented, I've lessened my use of peripherals, as they are more descriptive of how a player will perform in the future, not how they did in the past, which is what these awards are about.

Finally, defining a "starting pitcher" in the minors is somewhat nebulous, as bulk hurlers will get time in as a starter, and as a bullpen arm depending on what the team needs. My line is this: a relief outing isn't completely thrown out, but it weighs less than a start. Let's get to the honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions
Jason Doktorczyk - A Fort Myers, 2.70 ERA, 20 IP, 3.34 FIP
Jason Doktorczyk perhaps enjoyed the most dominant start so far in the Twins’ minor league system, hurling a 0 ER, 10 K outing on the 18th. Three of his appearances came out of the bullpen, though, which kept him off the list proper.

Dasan Hill, A Fort Myers - 1.69 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 2.29 FIP
On efficiency alone, I don’t think anyone topped Dasan Hill, whose first foray into pro ball resulted in a 50% K rate across 10 ⅔ innings. That’s 21 whiffs. Disgusting stuff. 

Christian MacLeod, A Fort Myers/AA Wichita - 0.00 ERA, 10 IP, 1.83 FIP
Because he spent time rehabbing an injury, Christian MacLeod ended the month with just 10 frames, but also didn’t allow a run, which seemed deserving of a mention. 

Dylan Questad, A Fort Myers - 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 3.27 FIP
Dylan Questad has so far rebounded from a walk-filled showing at rookie ball, dominating A-ball with 18 strikeouts across 13 innings. Only two runs were scored off him.

Jose Olivares, A+ Cedar Rapids - 0.00 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 2.04 FIP
Again, zero earned runs. You literally can’t beat that. The total innings were low, though, which just narrowly kept Jose Olivares off the list. 

5. Charlee Soto, A+ Cedar Rapids - 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 2.61 FIP, 28.3 K%
2025 has been kind to the former 2023 1st-rounder. While he often battled control issues in 2024—walking 33 batters across 74 innings—Charlee Soto appears to have found an elevated sharpness in his game. The walks are manageable—and he has so far dominated his competition.

There’s a lot to be excited about regarding Soto. 19 year olds pitching at A+ ball don’t grow on trees; and ones with fastball traits like Soto are even more rare. He’s more than four years younger than the average player at the level, and he’s doing so while throwing high-90s velocity with improved movement. Again, you simply don’t see pitchers like this every day. 

The only bad news is that Soto is currently on the mend for right triceps soreness. Hopefully, he’s only off the mound for a short time.

4. Trent Baker, AA Wichita - 2.49 ERA, 21 ⅔ IP, 3.69 FIP, 21.5 K%
A newcomer to the organization, Trent Baker joined the Twins as a minor league Rule 5 pick following four seasons with the Cardinals franchise. A ninth-round selection out of Angelo State University, the same college as Fort Myers’ Kade Bragg, Baker was never a top prospect, but pitched well in 2022 and 2023 before suffering command problems in 2024. He was also a Mankato MoonDog in 2019.

Back in 2023, Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs mentioned Baker as an off-the-list guy to look out for, calling his changeup a “usual plus” pitch, while his delivery was “as violent as the end of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood and more typical of a reliever.”

He’s nonetheless buoyed the Wichita rotation so far in 2025. The righty made five starts, going at least three innings in all of them, while never allowing more than a trio of earned runs in any one outing. While other hurlers may have beat him in run suppression and efficiency, Baker came out on top in terms of innings; only one other pitcher named in this article threw more innings in April than him. 

3. Cole Peschl, A Fort Myers - 0.00 ERA, 14 IP, 2.10 FIP, 33.3 K%
Like his rotation mate, Hill, Cole Peschl’s placement here is an acknowledgement of his ridiculous efficiency. 14 innings without an earned run is impressive no matter how you slice it; yet he did so with 19 strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.00, and an opposing batting average under .200. In his first month of professional baseball. That’s worthy of praise.

The Twins selected Peschl in the 15th round of the 2024 draft out of Campbell University, which claims a few notable current players like Cedric Mullins and Zach Neto (also, does the team have an obsession with the Carolinas? It seems to be a hotbed for players and prospects alike.) The righty held just a 5.48 ERA in college and almost transferred to Oregon, but he decided to join Minnesota, and the early returns look extremely promising.

He made an appearance on May 1st—which doesn’t count for this list—in which he tossed 3 1/3 scoreless while striking out eight, giving him an absurd 27 Ks over 17 1/3 clean frames to start the season. He certainly would have ranked even higher if all his outings were starts, and if that most recent outing didn’t come after April ended. In any case, the team usually has a late-round breakout pitcher, and Peschl looks like a good bet to be that this year.

2. Darren Bowen, AA Wichita - 1.50 ERA, 18 IP, 3.88 FIP, 22.5 K%
You don’t typically see a player eschew a 10 loss, 6.07 ERA season and dominate a higher level, but Darren Bowen’s April proved an exception. He was magnificent for the Wind Surge, never allowing more than one earned run in any of his outings, while tossing at least four frames in each appearance.

You may be forgiven if you forgot about Bowen, who was probably the least-known player arriving from the Mariners in the Jorge Polanco trade. While Anthony DeSclafani and Justin Topa were big leaguers—and Gabriel Gonzalez was a well-regarded prospect—Bowen was a small-school lotto ticket. His alma mater of UNC Pembroke has just one big leaguer—River Ryan. 

Still, Bowen’s lankiness and projections made him a fascinating prospect. His 2024 was messy, but his 2025 is off to a tremendous start. He’ll claim the silver for our Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month honors today (there’s no actual award for this.)

1. Zebby Matthews, AAA St. Paul - 1.93 ERA, 23 ⅓ IP, 1.87 FIP, 30.9 K%
For maybe the 30th time as a pro, Zebby Matthews has been named Twins Daily’s Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month.

For as close as the rest of the list was, the winner was strangely straightforward: no other starter in the system married workload with efficiency like Matthews, who tossed the most innings of any Twins minor leaguer in April, while also carrying a sub-2.00 ERA. And he struck out over 30% of batters faced. Yeah, that’ll do.

Zebby’s April 1st start set the tone for the month. He totaled five remarkably clean innings, allowing a lone hit while striking out four. Then came the whiff monster: in back-to-back outings he punched out nine and seven batters, respectively, before ending with two relative clunkers.

(Relative being the key word: he allowed two earned runs across 8 1/3 innings but nonetheless allowed a lot of traffic, and was at least a little fortunate his ERA didn’t inflate more.)

Matthews is everything you would want in a pitcher. A big guy with stuff and command, he’s spent almost his entire professional career laying waste to minor league hitters; with them often spending most of their day against him walking back to the dugout, slumped and confused. Across 228 2/3 minor league innings, he holds a 3.07 ERA.

With Zebby, the only question left is opportunity; he’s clearly demonstrated a dominance of the minors, leaving the majors as his final stepping stone. Due to the nature of pitchers, he’ll invariably earn a chance—an injury here; a double-header there will make sure of that—and that’s when we will see if he can make the jump. Until then, he’ll have to settle for earning our Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month honors for April 2025.

 

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[Guest]

Although Zebby still hasn't given up a homer (!) his last two starts suggest something's wobbly.

[Chris Hove]

I 

[FlyingFinn]

3 hours ago, Twinsfan2121 said:

Sorry I love the Twins but it doesn't push the needle for me.

We could have Cy Young himself at the beginning of his career and you would be grumping about how bad he is. Give the 29 other teams the option of Festa and Matthews vs. their top two starting pitchers in AAA, and it may very well be 25-29 teams that would select Festa and Matthews.

[mikelink45]

I am ready to see the Matthew arm in the majors - nothing left to prove - give him a job as SWR's partner since 5 innings is max for him.  Let's see what he can do.  We have Paddock on the end of his contract, we have SWR good, but probably at his max and we need to see what we have.

[chpettit19]

31 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I am ready to see the Matthew arm in the majors - nothing left to prove - give him a job as SWR's partner since 5 innings is max for him.  Let's see what he can do.  We have Paddock on the end of his contract, we have SWR good, but probably at his max and we need to see what we have.

I'd like to see Festa or Zebby replace Alcala for a stretch and pair with Paddack as a piggy back. It's hard to run a piggy back as a long-term/season long core plan because it means you need to essentially have 6 MLB quality starters at all time, but to run it for a while here while Alcala goes down and gets himself straightened out I think would be alright since we have Festa and Zebby at AAA ready to go. It should essentially give the pen a day off once through the rotation and give one of those guys more experience at the major league level.

I'd prefer to pair them with Paddack because I don't care about Paddack's future. And he's likely to break at some point anyways. So, I'd put Festa or Zebby into the rotation to go 5 or 6 (most likely 5) innings each time out and have Paddack be the guy to come in from the pen to do the 3 or 4 innings to close things out since I don't care about him continuing to build his stamina and work on getting through 5 or 6+ innings each time.

But with Alcala struggling right now, I think it presents them an opportunity to try this kind of thing out. Get one of the AAA arms up here and let Paddack be a bulk innings eater out of the pen. Zebby and Festa both wasting bullets in AAA feels unnecessary to me.

[Chris Hove]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

We could have Cy Young himself at the beginning of his career and you would be grumping about how bad he is. Give the 29 other teams the option of Festa and Matthews vs. their top two starting pitchers in AAA, and it may very well be 25-29 teams that would select Festa and Matthews.

I'm not grumpy at all just stating the Twins have gone down this road many times with these type of pitchers. I never thought about a bullpen spot, that would seem better than a rotation spot. He was up last year for nine starts and he had over 6 ERA. Trust me ask anyone on here I'm a Twins Bobo but have to state the obvious sometimes. Gotta be a realist sometimes. 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

I'd like to see Festa or Zebby replace Alcala for a stretch and pair with Paddack as a piggy back. It's hard to run a piggy back as a long-term/season long core plan because it means you need to essentially have 6 MLB quality starters at all time, but to run it for a while here while Alcala goes down and gets himself straightened out I think would be alright since we have Festa and Zebby at AAA ready to go. It should essentially give the pen a day off once through the rotation and give one of those guys more experience at the major league level.

I'd prefer to pair them with Paddack because I don't care about Paddack's future. And he's likely to break at some point anyways. So, I'd put Festa or Zebby into the rotation to go 5 or 6 (most likely 5) innings each time out and have Paddack be the guy to come in from the pen to do the 3 or 4 innings to close things out since I don't care about him continuing to build his stamina and work on getting through 5 or 6+ innings each time.

But with Alcala struggling right now, I think it presents them an opportunity to try this kind of thing out. Get one of the AAA arms up here and let Paddack be a bulk innings eater out of the pen. Zebby and Festa both wasting bullets in AAA feels unnecessary to me.

Only problem here is that Alcala is now beyond the option stage. The Twins would be reluctant to DFA Alcala because he would almost certainly be picked up by another team.

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Only problem here is that Alcala is now beyond the option stage. The Twins would be reluctant to DFA Alcala because he would almost certainly be picked up by another team.

He's not at 5 years of service yet and has options left so they should be able to option him, right? I could certainly be wrong. 

[chpettit19]

25 minutes ago, Twinsfan2121 said:

I'm not grumpy at all just stating the Twins have gone down this road many times with these type of pitchers. I never thought about a bullpen spot, that would seem better than a rotation spot. He was up last year for nine starts and he had over 6 ERA. Trust me ask anyone on here I'm a Twins Bobo but have to state the obvious sometimes. Gotta be a realist sometimes. 

Making final and definitive statements on guys based on their first 9 rookie year starts is a pretty risky move. Especially a gut who started that season in A+ ball.

Corey Kluber was brought up on another article. ERA over 5 in 12 starts his first year as an MLB starter at the age of 26. His 2 Cy Youngs say he turned out alright. 

Berrios was younger than Zebby, but he had an 8.02 ERA in 14 starts his rookie year. 

I can keep going, but I think you get the point. Giving up on a guy because of his first 9 starts isn't a great move.

[JD-TWINS]

6 hours ago, Twinsfan2121 said:

I don't want to be a downer because this article is great but, can the Twins finally end the Festa/Matthew's experiment. They go down to the minors and dominate, then get called up to the majors and struggle. We went down this road before with Dobnak, Smeltzer, and others. I'm just tired of the Zebby and Festa hype. Sorry I love the Twins but it doesn't push the needle for me. There's not many other choices because the Twins won't go out and get anybody but these two aren't it.

David Festa started 3 games in the Show this April when Lopez went down. He had an ERA of 1.38 over those starts. He accumulated .6 WAR. His strikeout to walk ratio was 3:1. His strikeouts per 9 innings were 10.4.

Festa, while not going deep in games, has pitched as well as anyone on the Staff to date.

Not sure what you’re watching?

Dobnack & Smelzer comparisons make me smile.

Matthews started 2024 in A ball. He was in the Majors by August. He wasn’t perfect & I agree he gets a lot of press here in TD. Smelzer & Dobnack though ……..there’s a bit of a difference.

[Chris Hove]

10 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

He's not at 5 years of service yet and has options left so they should be able to option him, right? I could certainly be wrong. 

I believe he still has options left,

[Mike Sixel]

6 hours ago, Twinsfan2121 said:

I don't want to be a downer because this article is great but, can the Twins finally end the Festa/Matthew's experiment. They go down to the minors and dominate, then get called up to the majors and struggle. We went down this road before with Dobnak, Smeltzer, and others. I'm just tired of the Zebby and Festa hype. Sorry I love the Twins but it doesn't push the needle for me. There's not many other choices because the Twins won't go out and get anybody but these two aren't it.

Both top 100 prospects. But sure. There is literally no comparison between these two and the other two. None. 

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

He's not at 5 years of service yet and has options left so they should be able to option him, right? I could certainly be wrong. 

There were several mentions of this in various articles earlier in the year and I'm not totally sure of the exact circumstances.. One article I can remember was when a TD writer was wondering if Alcala would begin the season in AAA because he would pass the point of being optioned after 8 or 10 days into the schedule. Someone will know the answer but I'm think Alcala cannot be sent down. Alcala has a great arm but he loses it pretty quick at times.

[Major League Ready]

5 hours ago, Twinsfan2121 said:

I'm not grumpy at all just stating the Twins have gone down this road many times with these type of pitchers. I never thought about a bullpen spot, that would seem better than a rotation spot. He was up last year for nine starts and he had over 6 ERA. Trust me ask anyone on here I'm a Twins Bobo but have to state the obvious sometimes. Gotta be a realist sometimes. 

So what.  Berrios had an ERA of 8 his first year and there are countless SPs that struggled at first in the majors.  

[chpettit19]

7 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

There were several mentions of this in various articles earlier in the year and I'm not totally sure of the exact circumstances.. One article I can remember was when a TD writer was wondering if Alcala would begin the season in AAA because he would pass the point of being optioned after 8 or 10 days into the schedule. Someone will know the answer but I'm think Alcala cannot be sent down. Alcala has a great arm but he loses it pretty quick at times.

Fangraphs and b-ref both still list him below the 5 year mark and I think they're pretty good at keeping that stuff updated, but I don't know. I agree that if he'd have to go through waivers they wouldn't likely do that, but each time he goes through one of these "needs a reset" spells he gets closer and closer to that being a possibility. 

[Major League Ready]

18 hours ago, Twinsfan2121 said:

I don't want to be a downer because this article is great but, can the Twins finally end the Festa/Matthew's experiment. They go down to the minors and dominate, then get called up to the majors and struggle. We went down this road before with Dobnak, Smeltzer, and others. I'm just tired of the Zebby and Festa hype. Sorry I love the Twins but it doesn't push the needle for me. There's not many other choices because the Twins won't go out and get anybody but these two aren't it.

There was not even much talk of going out for starting pitching this year given the depth.  Last year my recollection is the biggest push here last year was Jordan Montgomery.  Point being that going out and getting someone as you say is not only no guarantee it can be a disaster. 

[mikelink45]

12 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Only problem here is that Alcala is now beyond the option stage. The Twins would be reluctant to DFA Alcala because he would almost certainly be picked up by another team.

Let them take him.  He has been erratic and 9.49 era and a 2.027 WHIP -0.6 WAR

[Bodie]

10 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

There was not even much talk of going out for starting pitching this year given the depth.  Last year my recollection is the biggest push here last year was Jordan Montgomery.  Point being that going out and getting someone as you say is not only no guarantee it can be a disaster. 

Heck, I was sure that Maeda, and then Gray needed to be resigned (one or the other) to provide that fabled "veteran leadership" for the staff, ensuring that last bit of coaching that might be the difference between a Joe Mays and our Joe Ryan.

At the time either of these deals were possible, either would have been cheered as proof that the Twins were serious about competing, and/or that the days of the "cheap Twins" were over.

Maybe they could have filled that role - the respected elder statesman.  But, I'm glad in hindsight that they aren't taking up a roster spot.  Or sucking up payroll after a DFA.

[Bodie]

6 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Let them take him.  He has been erratic and 9.49 era and a 2.027 WHIP -0.6 WAR

Fair enough take.  But you cede your rights to complain about him being serviceable/good at his next stop.  Or further down his career road, ala Brent Rooker. 

I posted recently that I see him as almost irretrievably broken right now.  Not (only) as a ball player, but as a human being.  He needs to be somewhere other than in the Twins bullpen - for his litteral sanity. 

Get his head right, and then worry about the rest.  Goes for the Twins or wherever he ends up.  

[twinstalker]

Zebby's date for clearance is in June sometime, I believe, maybe early June.  At that point he can finish the season with the Twins and still be under one year of service time when last year is added in.

[mikelink45]

23 hours ago, Bodie said:

Fair enough take.  But you cede your rights to complain about him being serviceable/good at his next stop.  Or further down his career road, ala Brent Rooker. 

I posted recently that I see him as almost irretrievably broken right now.  Not (only) as a ball player, but as a human being.  He needs to be somewhere other than in the Twins bullpen - for his litteral sanity. 

Get his head right, and then worry about the rest.  Goes for the Twins or wherever he ends up.  

I cannot equate him with Rooker - he has more than had a chance and I agree that change of venue could do wonders for him like it did for Rooker.  

[Major League Ready]

21 hours ago, twinstalker said:

Zebby's date for clearance is in June sometime, I believe, maybe early June.  At that point he can finish the season with the Twins and still be under one year of service time when last year is added in.

He has 48 days of MLB service according to FanGraphs.  If he was promoted on June 1 that would be 168 days service as of the end of the 2025 MLB season.