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

[BillyBallLives]

42 minutes ago, madtowntwin said:

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.

Great points, MadTown—I’m with you 100%. The injury issues we’re seeing with the Twins feel like part of a much larger trend across MLB.  Burnes and Woodruff are prime examples. It really highlights the importance of good development and recovery programs—whether that’s through team staff or other organizations. The more tools pitchers have to stay healthy, the better. Let’s hope our guys bounce back strong.

[AKTwinsFan]

Is there a workout routine that were having them do that's too much strain on their shoulders? This is getting too much to handle. It's already such a tight division and now we're down 2 of our best arms. Season done?

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/rich-hill-has-june-15-opt-out-in-royals-deal.html

June 15. Falvey and Zoll: circle the date!

[h2oface]

8 hours 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.

ALL staffs. The Dodgers have 12-16 pitchers out.

[BillyBallLives]

On 6/9/2025 at 5:10 PM, h2oface said:

ALL staffs. The Dodgers have 12-16 pitchers out.

Agreed, "all" staffs do suffer. Yet, it’s easy to toss around the word “ALL” when talking about pitcher injuries, but I think that oversimplifies what’s actually a complex and varied situation across MLB. Sure, injuries are a reality for most teams—but not all are hit equally, and that distinction matters. Just look at the current state of the Dodgers and Yankees compared to the Mets and Phillies. While the Dodgers are juggling more than a dozen injured arms, and the Yankees have lost key starters like Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil, the Mets and Phillies seem to be navigating the season with relatively healthy rotations.

That raises an important question: is this just luck, or are some teams actually doing something better? Are the Mets and Phillies simply catching a break, or are their training, workload management, and pitcher development strategies making a real difference?

It’s worth exploring rather than accepting the idea that "ALL" pitching staffs are doomed to break down. If some clubs are clearly outperforming others in keeping their arms healthy, there may be lessons there that go beyond crossing fingers and hoping for the best.

[BillyBallLives]

"ALL" did was Nola stubbed his toe. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ staff looks like they just went twelve rounds with Mike Tyson… in his prime.

[stringer bell]

On 6/9/2025 at 8:07 AM, 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.

Every staff in baseball has injuries and injury histories. The Twins had been exceedingly healthy in their pitching staff until Pablo's arm injury, now Matthews, whose diagnosis wasn't great, and things don't look so rosy. 

We can add in that SWR's start was not confidence inspiring and it's fair to say that the Twins starting staff looks a lot weaker than it did two weeks ago. Guys need to step up and even if they do, cracks are showing in the starting rotation.

Equally important, the bullpen has been very healthy and that is with veterans with long injury histories (Stewart and Topa). Someone said that Alcalá has an option, but that's not really true (can't be optioned without his consent), but Tonkin is on the road to recovery and there are no reported injuries for any relief pitcher on the 40-man roster. 

[DJL44]

On 6/9/2025 at 8:07 AM, BillyBallLives said:

Justin Topa and Ronny Henriquez have missed time

Ronny Henriquez is a Marlin.

On 6/9/2025 at 8:59 AM, Fire Dan Gladden said:

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

To be fair, the main reason I thought they should trade Paddack is I have no confidence he can pitch a full season. He's having a great season so far, but he's the most likely to be the next man injured.

[h2oface]

On 6/11/2025 at 8:34 AM, BillyBallLives said:

Agreed, "all" staffs do suffer. Yet, it’s easy to toss around the word “ALL” when talking about pitcher injuries, but I think that oversimplifies what’s actually a complex and varied situation across MLB. Sure, injuries are a reality for most teams—but not all are hit equally, and that distinction matters. Just look at the current state of the Dodgers and Yankees compared to the Mets and Phillies. While the Dodgers are juggling more than a dozen injured arms, and the Yankees have lost key starters like Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil, the Mets and Phillies seem to be navigating the season with relatively healthy rotations.

That raises an important question: is this just luck, or are some teams actually doing something better? Are the Mets and Phillies simply catching a break, or are their training, workload management, and pitcher development strategies making a real difference?

It’s worth exploring rather than accepting the idea that "ALL" pitching staffs are doomed to break down. If some clubs are clearly outperforming others in keeping their arms healthy, there may be lessons there that go beyond crossing fingers and hoping for the best.

You are correct. I rarely go the inclusive generality of all. Or everyone, etc.

Many. Too many.

And with the histories (and age, but that doesn't seem to matter that much once a history starts with each player) of Stewart and Topa, and Paddack, and now Ryan, and even Duran (so many you could list but you get the point), I do think often luck IS a major factor., if not THE major factor.

But as far as complexity, I agree. Where do you start? Hell, I think you can go all the way back to the lowering of the mound for the 1969 season to the start of noticably more pitching injuries. 15 to 10 inches is massive (and teams were notorious for cheating on that - with the Dodgers accused of being as high as 20 inches at times.) Changed release point and arm angle and all kinds of mechanics. They didn't do TJ surgeries and others before 1974. We don't really know how fast guys like Gibson and Koufax..... and Walter Johnson threw, but it is assumed that it wasn't at like today. And those guys went every 4 days. But when the arm went, the career was over, basically. The Dodgers went to 5 man rotation in the early 70s, and like the opener, teams started giving it a go, and by 1980 or so, it was standard and the pitching gospel. But the injuries didn't slow, they kept happening more often.

I don't think you can stop the injuries. Not with the speed the game calls for now. Make all the graphs and collect the data and have the gyms and pitching nerds about mechanics you want, the arm is not meant to take that much force.

So maybe back to ALL? and the real answer, in the end ..... IS that pesky luck? Very complex, for sure. No reason not to continue to explore and try, as the game becomes data driven more and more and more.

[BillyBallLives]

9 hours ago, h2oface said:

I think you can go all the way back to the lowering of the mound for the 1969 season to the start of noticably more pitching injuries.

Very good points. This one in particular.

The stark contrast between the Phils and Dodger is just off the charts....but lets wait until September on the arms in Philly. That will be a sure tell.