This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach's Twins newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SEATTLE -- Sports at the highest level are about results, so if all you can see when you look at Zebby Matthews’ start Friday night is four runs, well, that’s your prerogative. But you should know that’s not what Matthews sees, or what the Twins see.
Quite the contrary. They see efficiency, they see innings, they see confidence, and they see growth. After being reached for two no-doubt home runs in the first inning of what turned out to be a memorable comeback win, Matthews didn’t allow anything else. It was at least arguably the best start of the second-year pitcher’s career.
Even if that was just about impossible to imagine after five batters.
“I wouldn’t have believed you, I’ll say that,” Matthews said. “It was good to battle out there. The first inning obviously if I could take it back, I’d love to, but I battled, kept the team in the game. Went long enough in the start, didn’t abuse the bullpen.”
Matthews lasted seven innings and gave his team every opportunity to claw back, which of course they took. There were a lot of heroes in that win, but if you leave Matthews off the list, you’re making a mistake.
“I think he really started to mix his pitches really well in the middle of that outing, and he kind of found himself,” said manager Rocco Baldelli.
“That’s as good as he’s thrown the ball in the big leagues with us. I thought he was sharp. It’s funny how that can happen sometimes. But he, mentally, was gaining confidence as the outing went on.”
That’s progress. Indisputably, this was progress. After crooked-number innings ended Matthews’ first two starts early, to settle in and get a string of quick outs was a major step.
It was, by a long way, the longest start of Matthews’ career. He’d never before recorded an out in the sixth, never mind finished the sixth and the seventh. It was also the longest start by any of the three pitchers who have started in the fifth spot in the Twins’ rotation this year.
The Twins wanted Matthews to get ahead in counts. He did that. They wanted him to get quick outs. He did that too. And they wanted him to finish hitters off after getting ahead of them, rather than letting them stick around for pitch after pitch. Check, check, and check.
Again, those two homers in the first inning? They definitely happened. They definitely counted. Cal Raleigh hammered a first-pitch cutter with two men on. Randy Arozarena followed three pitches later with a solo shot on a 1-2 fastball that was up out of the zone.
That’s four runs, and you won’t always come back to win after spotting the opponent four in the first. That run total was not what Matthews would have wanted. But the path to that result, that’s another matter entirely. And it’s something for him to build on as he looks to establish himself as a key part of the Twins rotation now and going forward.