Zebby Matthews Hits Injured List with Strained Right Shoulder. How Will Minnesota Twins Patch Rotation?

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

It looks like the Minnesota Twins will be patching together a thinner starting rotation than hoped, for longer than expected. Pablo López suffered a strained teres major muscle last week during the team's visit to West Sacramento, Calif., and now, Zebby Matthews is also on the injured list, with a strained shoulder. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli called it "very likely" that Simeon Woods Richardson would be recalled to join the rotation, although that won't happen Sunday. With Matthews down, the Twins reactivated left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe, who made a rehab appearance with Triple-A St. Paul Saturday and was ready to return, anyway. They'll operate with a nine-man bullpen in the series finale with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Matthews said this is his first stint on the injured list (and first time truly missing starts) in professional baseball. He began to feel the shoulder barking before his latest start, so we can rule out the mound at Sutter Health Park as the culprit for this particular malady.

"I kind of felt it after the bullpen in Tampa there," Matthews said Sunday. "I was able to throw through it in Seattle and Sacramento, but ultimately, now I'm feeling it a little bit more, so gotta take a little time off. Hopefully, it's not too long."

There's no constant pain. Matthews said he mainly feels the problem during the "last part of the throw" when delivering the ball. Until that's no longer the case, though, and until he starts to feel "normal", he'll pause throwing. The timeline for returning to throwing (let alone getting back onto a big-league mound) will depend on how he responds to rest and treatment.

Matthews said he underwent an MRI Saturday morning, which showed the strain, but neither he nor the team had an official diagnosis to share right away.

"No real details were really discussed," Matthews said of his meeting with the team about the results of his imaging. "It was more about how I feel, and a timetable of how long they think I'll be out, that sort of stuff."

Baldelli said this possibility was on the team's radar for days, before they took action.

"It wasn't a complete shock to us, despite the fact that it is disappointing," the manager said. "We knew that this was something that he was dealing with, going back to his start in [Sacramento]. It's something we were prepared for, and we were thinking about. So we've been assessing him over the past few days, to see what shape he's in, and then we got him looked at, got some imaging done. He's gonna be down at least for a little while."

While Matthews struck an optimistic tone and Baldelli and other Twins officials were extremely circumspect, it doesn't sound like Matthews will be back at the end of the 15-day term for which he's required to be shelved. That he's shut down for the time being says that, in itself. Pitchers who have suffered shoulder strains, since the start of 2021, have averaged more than 10 weeks to return to action, and the median is right around eight weeks. The distribution of possibilities is wide with this injury, which is not especially specific. For instance, the teres major issues that Joe Ryan and López have battled can fall under the umbrella of shoulder strains, but so can more minor issues with smaller muscles that provide stability instead of power to the pitcher. It's possible Matthews returns before the end of the month, but more likely that he's not back until the All-Star break.

Woods Richardson will get the first chance to replace Matthews, from the sound of things, but with both him and David Festa in a rotation that also features Bailey Ober's diminishing velocity and no longer has López at its head, there will be added pressure on the bullpen. Long man Travis Adams could make a short trip back to St. Paul after his next extended outing, to facilitate Woods Richardson's arrival. but he becomes an essential cog in the pen if the team ends up needing to lift starters earlier than has been their tendency or preference of late.

"We're just gonna have to keep kind of moving, and bringing guys up and challenging guys the way we have, and we're gonna continue to operate like that," Baldelli said. "If we have to get creative with the rotation or the way that we're filling up some of these innings and winning games, then we'll do that."

Ryan will be the first pitcher to take the mound in the knowledge that the team's rotation is under this much pressure. Baldelli said he hopes the newly minted Twins ace won't place undue pressure on himself.

"I don't think that Joe Ryan has to do anything differently. I don't want him thinking about anything differently. I don't want him approaching his outings differently," the skipper said. "He's been pitching great. Why would he do anything more than what he's doing? All we want our guys to do is get ready for their start, go and give us a chance to win. That's it."

That's all any one pitcher can do, of course, especially in the modern age. Even a top-tier starter can't generally spin a few complete games to help a tired bullpen stabilize. That's why, increasingly, the injuries to the rotation appear to threaten the viability of Jorge Alcala as the last man in the team's bullpen. How the team works around their latest setback is hard to say, but one thing is clear: the excess depth they might have hoped they had is turning out to be depth, but not excess. In fact, it might not even turn out to be enough.

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[JBK]

Chris Paddock's stock just went up

[Jocko87]

The variations on the chart are helpful in that there is a wide variation of outcomes but mostly in the multiple weeks category rather than multiple months.  They have a pretty good record with these things so if they let him pitch through it I’m going to check back in a month for progress.  

This is why the depth and Paddack was never getting traded in the offseason. 

[Blyleven2011]

I surely wasn't expecting this , he's been experiencing this his last couple of starts  , the one in Seattle where he gave up 4 runs in first inning but through a total of ⁵⁵7 innings and then against the Athletics he went 5 and got the win , I did mention in that game on the game thread that I thought his delivery was funky  , so maybe he was favoring his shoulder while pitching  ....

Can never have to much pitching  , we are not half way through this season and twins have another pitcher on the IL list ...

SWR pitching good in AAA , no reason he can't pitch well up here again  ...

[mnfireman]

19 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

The variations on the chart are helpful in that there is a wide variation of outcomes but mostly in the multiple weeks category rather than multiple months.  

Average days missed - 73, median days missed - 58; looks like 2 - 2.5 months to me.

Stewart and Ryan were both season ending injuries in late July and early August, so their time missed would have been longer the days indicated on the chart.

I would be surprised if we see him before the middle of August. Might be time to see if we can package Julien, Miranda, Martin, etc... for a SP.

[Mike Sixel]

Not good Bob. Not good.

[jorgenswest]

Woods Richardson had two good starts and a third where he allowed three home runs. The Saints also hit 2 home runs that day. Sometimes the ball flies there. Still a bad start but over three starts and 17 innings he struck out 19 and walked 4.

[Sjoski]

Steven Okert whom the Twins cut last year has resurrected his career in Houston.  

He when to Tread Athletics.

----

Tread Athletics is a data-driven baseball performance facility and remote coaching service, based in Charlotte, NC. Founded by Ben Brewster (former pro pitcher and author of Building the 95 MPH Body), Tread combines biomechanical assessments, strength & mobility training, pitch design, and ongoing coach interaction to help athletes improve velocity, reduce injury risk, and optimize performance  .

 

[CRF]

We're gonna be pulling guys off the street pretty soon. Welcome back SWR. 

[Sjoski]

1 hour ago, Sjoski said:

Steven Okert whom the Twins cut last year has resurrected his career in Houston.  

He when to Tread Athletics.

Just reported the facts. What could I possibly had said that's disagreeable?

Thread Athletics helped Okert — that’s not debate, it’s data.

 

[BrokenCompass]

2 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Might be time to see if we can package Julien, Miranda, Martin, etc... for a SP.

Who wants three underperforming players who haven't proven themselves in the majors even after extended stints in the bigs? Their weaknesses have been on full display as have their struggles and inability to adjust. 

Whether you have a little junk to trade, or lots of junk to trade - it's still junk. And nobody wants it. 

[jorgenswest]

Looks like they are going to need an 8th starter. They should probably move rule 5 pick up (minor league phase) Trent Baker to St. Paul. Give him a chance against better competition.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, Sjoski said:

Just reported the facts. What could I possibly had said that's disagreeable?

Thread Athletics helped Okert — that’s not debate, it’s data.

 

Why even mention it in this thread?

[Blyleven2011]

2 hours ago, Sjoski said:

Just reported the facts. What could I possibly had said that's disagreeable?

Thread Athletics helped Okert — that’s not debate, it’s data.

 

Try not to let it bother you , it's just the way some people show their politics ...

I seen it as just stating the facts on a player resurrecting their career , maybe because they didn't go to driveline they didn't like it ...

[Blyleven2011]

18 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Why even mention it in this thread?

He's just reporting information and he has that right to do so , nobody should tell anybody on this sight what they can say or not say , we're all fans of MLB baseball  , every team and their players  , or there wouldn't be baseball  ...

[Western SD Fan]

Getting back to how this affects the rotation.  You now have a full rotation of guys that are wild cards in terms of how long they will go in a game.  Some games will be 4-5 innings, some games will be 6-7, but there won't be much in consistency.  Many of us are hoping that Adams can come in and be a swingman that can pitch multiple innings and save a bullpen even though he has yet to throw a pitch in the majors. 

The Twins may also have a roster crisis looming in the bullpen.  Considering Coloumbe took Zebby's spot on the roster, the Twins will need to make a roster move prior to activating SWR from St. Paul.  Assuming you're not moving Duran, Jax, Varland, Stewart, Sands, and Coloumbe, that leaves us Adams, Topa, and Alcala as options to move off the roster.  Of those three, Alcala is the only one out of options.  You'd think they would want to keep Adams on the roster as he now has a real purpose as explained above.  Topa does have options and is a more back of the bullpen arm.  Further down the line is Tonkin looming as he is coming back from the IL.  He appears to be on track for late June, barring any additional setbacks.  Since he is on the 60-day IL, he'll require a 40-man move as well

[Mike Sixel]

58 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

He's just reporting information and he has that right to do so , nobody should tell anybody on this sight what they can say or not say , we're all fans of MLB baseball  , every team and their players  , or there wouldn't be baseball  ...

He asked why people disagreed with him. I answered. 

[mikelink45]

I asked this last week not anticipating the injuries we have not had - but who are the next three in line to be SP if needed?

[DocBauer]

As Rocco stated, the worst thing anyone can do is put undue pressure on themselves to do more. Nobody has to be a savior. Every starter just needs to stay within themselves and just concentrate on that day's game. 

SWR can still be a part of this team's future. His re-set at AAA doesn't mean anyone has soured on him. He just needs to be the arm he was for most of 2024 who kept the team in the game for 5 innings. Festa, with even better stuff, needs to be the guy he was in 2024 also, post a couple rough early appearances. His ERA was under 4 after his first couple of appearances. Reports are his new 2 seamer has come along nicely. He needs to trust it and throw it.

The biggest issue is the possible need for a middle man a couple days a week. That might be Adams. It might be a rotation of him and others. But that also means opening up a roster spot for a different 8th man in the pen. Topa has been pretty solid. Alcala would seem to be the obvious choice to move on from, but he's still got great stuff that you hate to give up on. 

Interesting about Alcala, which I posted in another OP, apparently he has an ERA around 1.00 when he gets the 1st batter out. Its sky high when the 1st batter reaches. Either he loses focus/confidence, OR, it's just an indication of a "wild day" for him. There's STILL a good arm with good stuff there. But does he figure in to the 2026 plans at around $3M? And while the Twins may not want to give up on him for 2025, what if they just really need that middle man? 

They just might be forced to make a hard decision they don't want to make and make the 8th man a rotating spot for innings between Adams, Dobnak, and McCaughan,  for example.

I don't think they have to make the decision tomorrow, but in a week or so they may have to make a tough call.

[arby58]

6 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Might be time to see if we can package Julien, Miranda, Martin, etc... for a SP.

Three MLB cast-offs for a MLB starting pitcher? Maybe throw in Camargo to really seal the deal.

[mark sills]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

As Rocco stated, the worst thing anyone can do is put undue pressure on themselves to do more. Nobody has to be a savior. Every starter just needs to stay within themselves and just concentrate on that day's game. 

SWR can still be a part of this team's future. His re-set at AAA doesn't mean anyone has soured on him. He just needs to be the arm he was for most of 2024 who kept the team in the game for 5 innings. Festa, with even better stuff, needs to be the guy he was in 2024 also, post a couple rough early appearances. His ERA was under 4 after his first couple of appearances. Reports are his new 2 seamer has come along nicely. He needs to trust it and throw it.

The biggest issue is the possible need for a middle man a couple days a week. That might be Adams. It might be a rotation of him and others. But that also means opening up a roster spot for a different 8th man in the pen. Topa has been pretty solid. Alcala would seem to be the obvious choice to move on from, but he's still got great stuff that you hate to give up on. 

Interesting about Alcala, which I posted in another OP, apparently he has an ERA around 1.00 when he gets the 1st batter out. Its sky high when the 1st batter reaches. Either he loses focus/confidence, OR, it's just an indication of a "wild day" for him. There's STILL a good arm with good stuff there. But does he figure in to the 2026 plans at around $3M? And while the Twins may not want to give up on him for 2025, what if they just really need that middle man? 

They just might be forced to make a hard decision they don't want to make and make the 8th man a rotating spot for innings between Adams, Dobnak, and McCaughan,  for example.

I don't think they have to make the decision tomorrow, but in a week or so they may have to make a tough call.

Dobnak not on forty man either I think Morris will be next man up

[HerbieFan]

It's nice they have depth....could be worse than having to use Festa and SWR.  At least they have experience now.  But losing Pablo....oof

[h2oface]

6 hours ago, BrokenCompass said:

Who wants three underperforming players who haven't proven themselves in the majors even after extended stints in the bigs?

The Twins? We add guys like that all the time. Usually not by trade but from DFAs and waivers. 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

9 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

The variations on the chart are helpful in that there is a wide variation of outcomes but mostly in the multiple weeks category rather than multiple months.  They have a pretty good record with these things so if they let him pitch through it I’m going to check back in a month for progress.  

This is why the depth and Paddack was never getting traded in the offseason. 

The chart is interesting but has absolutely no bearing on Zebby.  For most on that list, it's not even comparing apples to apples????  All shoulder strains on the same chart?  Zebby's is surely different than Joe Ryan's last year.  What's the history of arm issues with the others on the list (see Brock Stewart).  This is Zebby's 1st trip to the IL and his first injury of any kind.  I, for one, will try to be optimistic based on that. 

[Fezig]

Can't help but wonder if this injury along with Pablo's has anything to do with having pitchers overthrow. Once upon a time pitchers would throw 88-92 with their fastball and last a couple more innings. Now they're throwing 93-96. 

Although, I did talk to a former MLB reliever who believes the pitching guns have been set to a higher speed, so maybe the speeds aren't a factor and it's just more MN bad luck.

[mickster]

11 hours ago, arby58 said:

Three MLB cast-offs for a MLB starting pitcher? Maybe throw in Camargo to really seal the deal.

That will get you someone about to be DFA'd - no value for another team right now

[MinnInPa]

dont have any trust in SWR..certainly not Dobnak ..ever again.. Twins bats are gonna have to come alive and start producing more runs..because our 4-5 guys are gonna give up 5+ a game

[BillyBallLives]

15 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Why even mention it in this thread?

Lets connect the dots. The Twins have struggled to keep their pitching staff healthy. Pablo López is currently out, Zebby Matthews was recently sidelined, Bailey Ober’s velocity has dipped, and Justin Topa and Ronny Henriquez have missed time. Chris Paddack has a history of significant injuries, and Joe Ryan missed a large portion of last season. The trend raises concerns about the overall durability of the staff.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Calls to trade Paddack and Ryan earlier in the year are not looking real great right now.

SWR and Festa will get a lot of rope. I am curious who the next man up would be should Festa and/or SWR blow up.

[madtowntwin]

1 hour ago, BillyBallLives said:

Lets connect the dots. The Twins have struggled to keep their pitching staff healthy. Pablo López is currently out, Zebby Matthews was recently sidelined, Bailey Ober’s velocity has dipped, and Justin Topa and Ronny Henriquez have missed time. Chris Paddack has a history of significant injuries, and Joe Ryan missed a large portion of last season. The trend raises concerns about the overall durability of the staff.

As a Twins Fan in WI I will connect your dots and interject that it's most likely league wide rather than specific to the Twins. Former Brewer Ace and flame thrower Corbin Burnes just hurt his elbow and is gone for the season for Arizona. Brandon Woodruff is still struggling to come back from a MAJOR shoulder injury from 2 seasons ago. Their present staff has had several missed starts and IL stints due to more minor shoulder / intercostal / elbow etc. ailments. Ryan, Lopez, and now Matthews are probably reflective of a league wide pattern that is afflicting the Twins and Brewers along with every other MLB team. MRI Scans can detect inflammation and strains along with tears. Let's hope the training staff can help our pitches heal as quickly as possible and avoid major season ending scenarios.