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

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.

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