Zebby Matthews made an exciting rise through the Twins’ system in 2024 and flashed his potential in the majors in 2025. The expectation was that 2026 would bring him more opportunities to cement himself in the Twins’ rotation, and to finally turn the corner from promising to productive. As spring training winds down, it’s looking like that chance is slipping past him.

While it’s important not to put too much weight into spring performance, we know some roster battles are underway. The bench spots are the obvious examples, but another opened in the rotation when Pablo López went down with an injury. It’s safe to say the fifth spot (after Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley) will go to either Matthews or Mick Abel.

 

The two have had very different springs. Abel, 24, was acquired at last year’s trade deadline and has been one of the best arms in all of camp. He’s allowed just two runs in over 13 innings and struck out over a third of opposing hitters. Matthews’s ERA is just under 6.00, and some of the underlying metrics are even more concerning.

The velocity and raw stuff that jumped off the page while Matthews ascended through the Twins’ system haven’t shown up this spring. In Sunday’s start, he was missing a tick and a half on the fastball, and the velocity was down across the board. It’s worth wondering whether his shoulder injury from last season has anything to do with the dropoff, but even if this is simply a delay in getting into midseason form, it’s easy to make an argument that Matthews should begin the season atop the Saints rotation, rather than at thee bottom of the Twins’. His stuff is worse even if we keep it apples-to-apples by setting his spring readouts alongside the ones from last spring training, rather than the regular season.

 

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While it would be good to afford Matthews all of the opportunities possible this season, he’s still just 25 years old. The Twins will need another starting pitcher by the end of the first month or two. The team is also steadfast in its stated intention to win in 2026. If they want to hit the ground running, Abel has looked like a stronger bet to contribute immediately. Besides, rewarding a top prospect for an exciting spring is a good notion.

If Matthews had built himself a stronger résumé at the big-league level, things would be different. He has yet to put it all together, though. The Twins came into this spring wanting to see one of their young starters come in and win a rotation spot, rather than having Matthews’s name already written in. Abel is looking like that guy, instead of Matthews.

Matthews has nothing left to prove in Triple-A, which would make him missing out on the Opening Day rotation a disappointing outcome. The same can be said for Abel, though. The Twins are fortunate to have several options for this spot, even if someone has to lose out, and that someone could be a homegrown prospect with a bright future with the team.