Zebby Matthews Looks To Stifle the New York Yankees
Zebby Matthews, a Western Carolina graduate and former standout, is pitching tonight for the Minnesota Twins against Will Warren and the New York Yankees. Zebby Matthews is a strikeout pitcher, and this is a problem for the free-swinging Yankees.
Though Zebby Matthews has a high earned run average, it is wise to expect him to baffle the New York Yankees. Zebby Matthews may have the best name in the United States, and he will pitch well tonight against the Yankees, who are likely to get fewer than five hits. Do you think Zebby Matthews will do a good job against the Yankees?
Zebby Matthews Against Will Warren
After a nightmare start to open July, giving up eight runs in four innings to the Blue Jays, Warren has rebounded to hold opponents to two or fewer runs in five of his last six starts, pitching to a 2.87 earned run average over that span. He also struggled earlier in the season against the Dodgers. He is pitching much better now, and the Yankees need him to step up his game. The rookie leader in strikeouts may win the American League Rookie of the Year.
Warren gets into trouble when he nibbles rather than trusts that his stuff can play up in the strike zone. He will get to two strikes easily, but then nibble on the edges, allowing the hitter back into the count and resulting in walks and inefficient outings. Even though Warren has struggled at times, he has been a stabilizing presence at the back of the rotation. Warren has 133 strikeouts and a 2.0 Wins above Replacement. In 24 starts, Will Warren is 6-5 with a 4.44 earned run average.
Warren will face Zebby Matthews, from Western Carolina University. He was drafted in the eighth round of the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Just looking at Zebby Matthews’ poor 5.17 earned run average would be misleading. Among all pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched, Zebby Matthews has the fifth-largest gap between earned run average and fielding independent earned run average at almost 2.5 runs. This is a strong indicator that he has pitched in bad luck and been victimized by poor fielding.
Zebby Matthews has pitched at an elite level since getting bumped into the rotation following Pablo López’s injury with an elite 22.9 % strikeout-minus-walk ratio and 0.94 home runs allowed per nine. The 25-year-old righty leads with a four-seamer that averages 97 miles per hour, while his main strikeout weapon is a devastating slider with a 43.5-percent whiff rate, which could trouble the Yankees. Zebby Matthews has the fourth-highest strikeout rate (50.9 percent) of any slider in Major League Baseball. In eight starts, Matthews is 3-3 with a 5.17 earned run average and 48 strikeouts in 38.1 innings.
Hitting Forecast
The hitting forecast for the game is simple. The Yankees will continue to struggle. They could strike out 15 times. Aaron Judge has not looked the same since coming back from injury. The Yankees need Giancarlo Stanton in their batting order, so it is reasonable to expect him to play right field. For the Minnesota Twins, Byron Buxton will lead off. Since Warren is right-handed, Roger Clemens’ son, Koby, will bat. However, the Twins traded away many of their hitters. It may not matter as this will likely be a low-scoring game, where Zebby Matthews will pitch great.
Conclusion
In this first game against the Twins, the Yankees’ struggles are likely to continue. They historically dominate the Twins at home, but expect Zebby Matthews to pitch well. Warren should pitch well for the Yankees, too, though a high pitch count may force him to the showers early. This game will probably be low scoring. The Yankees should win tomorrow. However, they face one of the best pitchers in the American League in Game 3 of the series.
