St. Paul – In baseball, they’ve always said that walks will haunt pitchers. But for a pitcher with Greg Maddux-type command in the strike zone, setting a new career high of walks allowed in a start can sometimes be easy to dismiss.
Zebby Matthews had a meteoric rise through the minors last year. Therefore, walking four batters like he did on Sunday seemed impossible. He only walked seven in the minors all season before the Minnesota Twins called him up on August 13 last year, and he had never walked more than three batters in a start before 2025.
So, how did Sunday end up being the day he walked four hitters for the first time?
“I felt decent out there. Obviously, didn’t feel my best today. You have those days,” Matthews said after his start. “Just kind of worked through it and kept battling out there to put the team into a position to win.”
Three of Matthew’s four walks allowed came in the fourth inning, and two of those three weren’t originally called walks. The first two he allowed on Sunday came on 3-2 counts, and home plate umpire Harley Acosta called strike three each time.
Matthews’s disadvantage was the ABS challenges from the hitters. The system overturned those strikes into balls.
“It was just a lot of three-ball counts. Some close pitches didn’t quite go my way, but that’s why we have the ABS,” said Matthews. “I guess they were on the better end of it today. Hopefully, we’ll work on it and get it fixed.”
Matthews had a career high in walks allowed and only threw 12 fastballs above 96 MPH on Sunday, which may be cause for alarm for some who just started following Matthews a year ago. However, nothing of concern for Saints manager Toby Gardenhire and pitching coach Jonas Lovin, who have seen him develop into the pitcher he is today.
“I think he’ll be completely fine,” Lovin said. “I’ve never seen him do that, and I don’t expect him to do that very often. It’s just getting him into a more regular routine.”
“I’m not going to put too much into that,” echoed Gardenhire. “Zebby’s really good, he’s got really good command. Four walks is unusual for him, but it’s not ground-breaking by any means.”
Matthews is certain his pitching coach and manager’s confidence in him isn’t misplaced.
“I think it will be a one-time thing,” he said confidently.
When Matthews left the game in the fifth, his walk total wasn’t his biggest concern. It was leaving runners on base for teammate Alex Speas, who came into the game to get the final out of the inning.
Speas had to work around runners on second and third to get the last out. However, he gave up a single to the first batter he faced, which made it a 3-2 game. Fortunately, Speas got the next batter out and alleviated Matthews’ stress from the situation he left him in.
“I never want to leave runners on, I never want to put relievers in that situation,” said Matthews. “Speas made a good pitch, just a weak ground ball up the middle. We were ahead in the game, so it was good that we were able to keep the lead there and hold onto it. It’s not something we want to have a trend of.”
The Saints have had several rainouts early in the season and had seven games this series against Indianapolis, which accounted for a wonky lineup for the pitching rotation. Since this was the first time Matthews, or any Saints starter, pitched on just five days’ rest this year, it may have impacted how he performed, according to Lovin.
“He was bouncing back on a little bit shorter rest,” said Lovin. “Sometimes that fatigue sets in, and some people they feel it, you see it in their velo, and some guys you see it in their ability to execute pitches. I’m not sure he got tired, but that could definitely be a piece of it.”
The Saints’ schedule won’t be any easier on Tuesday. They have another double header in Columbus on the first day of a six-day road trip in Ohio’s capital. David Festa is expected to start one of the two games, and the Saints will have a six-man rotation going for the series with his return to the minors.
Matthews is hopeful that after the doubleheader on Tuesday, he and his rotation mates will finally settle into a routine where the haunting of free base runners doesn’t hang over them.
“Ultimately, we’re doing the best we can to stay on top of it, stay ready,” he said. “The pitching coaches have done a good job of staying on top of us. I think we’re all a bit frustrated with the weather, the whole staff, but we’ve handled it the best we can and keep going out there to compete.”