FORT MYERS, Fla. — The search for the “next man up,” has begun.
With news of Pablo López’s injury, which very well might wind up with the starter needing season-ending Tommy John surgery, the Twins suddenly are looking for someone to step up and fill an, unexpectedly, open rotation spot.
The Twins have touted their rotation depth from the start, and now they’ll get a chance to see it in action. Zebby Matthews will have his first in-game chance to make an impression on team’s decision-makers when he takes the ball on Friday in the Twins’ spring opener against the University of Minnesota, a game that is set for 5:05 p.m. Central at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla.
“I’m going to do my best in spring to earn a rotation spot,” Matthews said. “If it works out, that’s awesome. If not, then I’ll be ready in Triple-A whenever they make the call and need me back up.”
Matthews spent the beginning of last season at Triple-A but was in the majors much of last season, making 16 starts sandwiched around a shoulder strain that kept him out for part of the summer.
His focus this offseason — and his continued focus as camp gets underway — is on his execution, particularly with his offspeed pitches.
“I’ve got the stuff. I’ve got the pitches. Just trying to fine tune and execute,” Matthews said. “If you look at some of the better starters in the league, you look at what they’re able to do locating their pitches, missing to their advantage, that sort of stuff. Big focus on that.”
Across 16 major league starts last season, Matthews had a 5.56 ERA, mixing in some clunkers with some stretches of dominance. In his second-to-last start of the season, he gave up nine runs in three innings. In his final outing, he went seven innings and gave up one run on four hits against the Texas Rangers.
Now, with major league experience in each of the past two seasons, he’s looking to find more consistency, as he has in the minors. What that looks like, manager Derek Shelton said, in this case, is making sure he’s “able to manipulate the plate and off the plate in specific counts.”
“We’ve seen over the time, he’s got really good stuff and flashes that,” Shelton said. “I think for a young pitcher, just to be more consistent is probably the main theme.”
Twins “hunt the good”
When Shelton first heard strength and conditioning coach Chuck Bradway drop the phrase “hunt the good,” during a staff retreat in Minneapolis last month, the new Twins manager knew he was going to steal it. Now, it’s written atop the Twins’ daily schedule that’s posted on the walls every day, and Shelton made sure to include the phrase in his speech to the group as camp begun.
“It was something that organically came up in a staff conversation about how we wanted our staff to relate to players and what we wanted them to feel because the game is based on so much negativity,” Shelton said.
To illustrate their point, they highlighted Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, a career .304 hitter. Along the way, that meant failing every seven of 10 times.
“Our game is based on failure,” Shelton said. “I want to make sure our coaches and our players focus back towards what the good thing about every day is.”
Briefly
The Twins’ game against the University of Minnesota will last seven innings. The Twins will have a couple of major leaguers play in Friday’s game, but Shelton said he expects most of the rest of them to play within the first couple games. … Joe Ryan will start Saturday’s game.
Related Articles
With Pablo López’s injury, what starters could step up for Twins?
After frustrating free agency, Andrew Chafin competes for spot in Twins’ bullpen
Bruce Meyer elevated to baseball players’ association interim executive director
Twins look for “next man up,” in wake of Pablo López injury news
Twins’ Pablo López likely to miss entire season
Leave a Reply