Twins lose Zebby Matthews to injury; Simeon Woods Richardson likely to join rotation

Four days after the Twins lost Pablo López to a shoulder injury that will sideline him for the next two months, they lost another starting pitcher.

Zebby Matthews was placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday because of a right shoulder strain. There was no immediate timetable for his return, but he isn’t expected to return this month after a magnetic resonance imaging exam Saturday morning revealed a moderate subscapularis strain. He will be shut down from throwing for at least two weeks.

Matthews said he started feeling a little discomfort in his shoulder during a bullpen session at Tampa Bay nearly two weeks ago. He made two starts afterward, yielding five runs in 12 innings (3.75 ERA) with 11 strikeouts, before he began “feeling it a little more.”

“It’s not something we’re too concerned with,” Matthews said. “It seems to be something we can respond to, hopefully, pretty quick. We’re hoping the time on the IL is short-lived. … Mainly during the last part of the throw is when I feel it. Everything else, it feels pretty good. We’re just trying to get it to loosen up and get back to feeling normal.”

The Twins activated lefthanded reliever Danny Coulombe from the injured list Sunday, and Simeon Woods Richardson is expected to fill Matthews’ spot in the starting rotation. The Twins haven’t announced their starter for Tuesday’s series opener against Texas.

“In the outing in Sacramento [last Wednesday], Zebby had some minor soreness,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He wanted to stay in the game. It wasn’t something that we were going to immediately take him out of the game for. That happens a number of times over the course of a season.

“But as we got into the week, after his outing, and he’s out there moving around, playing catch, getting assessed in the training room, we realized it was maybe more than just a peripheral issue or a small issue he could pitch through.”

Woods Richardson, who was scratched from a scheduled start with the Class AAA St. Paul Saints on Sunday, was previously demoted from the rotation after he had a 5.02 ERA in 37⅔ innings. In three minor league starts, he gave up 15 hits and eight runs in 17 innings (4.24 ERA) while striking out 19 and walking four.

“[Matthews] is going to be down for a little while,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to have to just keep moving and bringing guys up and challenging guys the way we have.”

The Twins don’t have any proven starting pitching depth behind their current group — Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, David Festa and Woods Richardson — putting pressure on each of them to remain effective. The Twins crumbled at the end of last season after injuries to Ryan and Paddack.

“It’s tough,” Matthews said. “We just lost Pablo there and then for me to go on the IL, too, it’s definitely tough. I was feeling good out there, but it’s a great time for somebody else to step up and help the team in the ways that they can, so I’m excited for that.”

Byron Buxton has served as the Twins’ leadoff hitter for each of his past 18 games, and Baldelli expects he will remain in that spot.

The main reason? Buxton volunteered for it.

“Buck approached me and was like, ‘Hit me leadoff,’ ” Baldelli said. “He likes it. I think much of the time Buck will hit leadoff when he’s in there.”

Batting leadoff isn’t new to Buxton, who has done it 123 times in his career, but the Twins have experimented with Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach and Ryan Jeffers hitting there.

“Being able to start us off, I take pride in that,” said Buxton, who is batting .260 with a .348 on-base percentage out of the leadoff spot. “It’s just more figuring out who I am over the past couple of years. I like hitting in other positions, don’t get me wrong, but leadoff, there is just something about it that I feel like I do a little bit better there.”

• Ty France, who had two hits and a walk Sunday, has reached base in 20 consecutive games, the longest single-season streak by a Twins batter in more than two years. Buxton had a 24-game streak from April 25-May 24, 2023.

• Edouard Julien had four hits, including a solo homer, in the Saints’ 7-2 home loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Randy Dobnak gave up four runs and three hits in three innings.