One of the biggest reasons coming into Monday's game against the San Francisco Giants , the Minnesota Twins collapsed down the stretch has been their pitching staff. There are games, much like the series opener against the Giants, where the staff puts the offense in an early hole, one they simply never recover from. Their offense has struggled this season in general, and playing from behind never helps.
Perhaps the biggest issue for the Twins is the performance of Zebby Matthews on the road. His poor performance away from Target Field has been as big a culprit as any for the Twins' poor performance in the second half.
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews. Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The home-road splits have been stark for many members of the Twins this season, but perhaps nobody more than Matthews. Prior to his outing Monday against the Giants, Matthews had pitched 62 1/3 innings on the road, posting a 6.93 ERA and giving up 17 home runs. Those numbers are simply not competitive and will go up after the outing against the Giants.
Comparing those numbers to his splits at home , where he's pitched 63.0 innings to the tune of a 2.57 ERA, giving up only six home runs. Matthews has made two fewer starts at home this season than on the road and has logged more innings and put up much, much better numbers. It's good to be a home warrior, but going into 2027, he's going to need to figure out the road issues.
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews. Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Monday night was not much better, where Matthews pitched five innings, giving up five runs, including two in each of the first two innings. He only surrendered one home run, so that's progress from his normal splits on the road with the long ball, but the results are still not good.
The most encouraging thing for Matthews on Monday was the fact that he was locating his pitches extremely well, especially right on left. That should be a very encouraging sign for the future because it means Matthews is evolving as a pitcher. His stuff on the day was not good.
At 31 pitches in the first inning, it would not have been inconceivable for Matthews to have a short day, but because he was able to locate for the rest of the outing, he was able to go five innings and help out the bullpen.
Another good sign for Matthews was the nine strikeouts and the 15 whiffs. It means that the Giants' lineup was unbalanced, especially after the first and second innings. The key now is for Matthews to settle in the game quicker, and that's an adjustment that he and the Twins' pitching department can help him make this offseason.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/twins/onsi as Twins Have a Major Zebby Matthews Problem They Need to Fix for 2027 .
