Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews moves forward in recovery from shoulder strain

Zebby Matthews threw live batting practice Tuesday, with injured teammate Luke Keaschall taking swings.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 9, 2025 at 4:21AM
Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews is working his way toward recovery. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Injured Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews threw live batting practice Tuesday, on the road back from a right shoulder strain that put him on the injured list retroactive to June 5. He missed his 30th game Tuesday.

He said he threw about 40 pitches in two sessions with a break between.

“It went good, felt really good,” Matthews said. “I felt normal out there. Obviously didn’t quite execute like we needed to. First time with hitters. A little excited, but it was good.”

Matthews threw against injured teammate Luke Keaschall, who urged the hard-throwing Matthews to pitch him inside.

“Zebby gave us exactly what we wanted,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “His stuff looked good. He was throwing two-ups. He got through it, went well. We’ll kind of reassess everything inside, see what the next step is. Luke, offensively the way he was swinging it, looked normal. That’s what you want. He put good swings on the ball.”

Matthews said the next step on the road back is a discussion with manager and coaches.

“I think we’ll sit down and talk, probably today,” Matthews said. “Kind of had to check this off today. Figure out the next steps and go from there.”

Steadiness is appreciated

Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson started his 13th game of the season Tuesday against the Cubs, going five scoreless innings before turning it over to relievers in the Twins’ 8-1 victory.

Baldelli praised Woods Richardson’s consistency this season; he improved to 5-4 with a 4.08 ERA.

“He’s just been better more often,” Baldelli said. “He has had stretches where he’s pitched very well, but he has been able to put together outing after outing, inning after inning just making good pitches.”

All-Star, for sure

Baldelli on Byron Buxton making the All-Star Game in Atlanta next week and the Home Run Derby the night before that: “What we’ve been watching from him recently has been memorable, it has been enjoyable, but it’s also been baseball at its highest level. We could say we’ve had a few guys very deserving of an All-Star appearance, but one thing that’s not debatable is Byron Buxton is a firm, very deserving and obvious All-Star.”

Saints roll past Iowa

Patrick Winkel, Aaron Sabato and Emmanuel Rodriguez each hit a three-run home run to power the St. Paul Saints to an 11-5 victory over the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday night at CHS Field.

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about the writer

Jerry Zgoda

Reporter

Jerry Zgoda covers Minnesota United FC and Major League Soccer for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

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