Rehab Assignment Incoming for Minnesota Twins Starter

The Minnesota Twins are going for a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday at Target Field. After that, Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan will head south for the MLB All-Star Game, and in Buxton’s case, the Home Run Derby. Meanwhile, their Twins teammates get a few days off.

This year’s MLB All-Star break comes at the perfect time for Minnesota. Sure, the lineup is mostly healthy now, including Carlos Correa, who is back in the lineup after missing Buxton’s cycle game, a 12-4 Twins win over the pirates due to an injury scare with his surgically repaired ankle one night earlier.

Without a doubt, Correa, Royce Lewis and other oft injured or banged up Minnesota Twins players could use some time off. One player who does not need more time away from baseball, however, is 25-year-old rookie starter Zebby Matthews.

MN Twins RHP Zebby Matthews starting rehab assignment

After straining his rotator cuff back in early June, the flamethrowing righty has been back on the mound recently. The work Zebby has put in to this point has him ready to take the next step in his recovery, which is a rehab start on Sunday down in Triple-A, St. Paul.

Zebby Matthews (shoulder) is beginning a rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A St. Paul.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) July 12, 2025

Zebby going four innings or 65 pitches today in a rehab start for the Saints.

— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) July 13, 2025

Related: Byron Buxton Hits for Cycle on His Day; Twins Dominate Pirates

In 4 starts this season, Zebby Matthews — who won 2024 Minnesota Twins minor league pitcher of the year — is 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 8 walks and a 1.47 WHIP in 19.0 innings pitched. He started to show signs of improvement before his injury, but the start to Matthews’ MLB career hasn’t gone according to plan.

Zebby made his MLB debut on August 13, 2024. Since then, he’s made a total of 13 big league starts (56.2 innings), posting an unimpressive 6.19 ERA and more reasonable 1.59 WHIP. If he can figure things out, Matthews’ 68/19 K/BB ratio and 10.8 SO/9 should lead to better results on the scoreboard.

Zebby Matthews still has some work to do but had an encouraging start today!

4 IP 5 H 2 R 1 BB 9 K
14 whiffs and 32 CSW%

How we feeling?
pic.twitter.com/YxJx2lyYDx

— Andrew DeCeglie (@Andrew_FBB) May 24, 2025

We’ll see if this latest stint on the injured list helped Zebby Matthews figure some things out, that will lead to him being a better MLB pitcher. That starts by showing he is healthy today with the Saints, where Matthews holds a 3.31 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 51.2 career innings at Triple-A.