Zebby Matthews Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

IP	10
ERA	2.7
WHIP	.9
BB/9	0
SO/9	10.8

Full name Daniel Zebulon Matthews
Born 05/22/2000 in Cullowhee, NC
Profile Ht.: 6'5" / Wt.: 225 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Western Carolina
Drafted in the 8th round (234th overall) by the Minnesota Twins in 2022 (signed for $125,000).

View Draft Report

A tall, lean 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Matthews was a three-year performer at Western Carolina. An elite strike-thrower, he struck out 211 and walked 30 in 183.1 career innings at WCU. He was a starter for his first two college seasons and for the first half of his third season before moving to the bullpen, where his stuff found another gear. His fastball, which was a high-80s pitch that touched the low 90s as a starter, bumped as high as 97 mph as a reliever, and his stuff bounced back well enough to allow him to throw multiple times in a weekend. His best offspeed offering is a mid-80s slider that had a 40% whiff rate last season.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

BA Grade: 50/High

Track Record: There has never been a big leaguer named Zebby. But Daniel Zebulon Matthews could become the first Zebby to the bigs, which is an impressive development of yet another later-round Twins pitching find. Matthews had a solid frame and fastball at Western Carolina, but he moved to the bullpen late in his draft year to help the team’s chances. As a pro, he’s figured out how to separate his cutter and slider, which has turned him from a fringe prospect to one worth keeping an eye on.

Scouting Report: A massive righthander who seems to be larger than his listed 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Matthews doesn’t have a plus pitch, but he has five different ones he is comfortable throwing regularly with plus control. Because of that, it’s easy to like his chances to develop into a back-of-the-rotation starter or multi-inning reliever. His development of that 90 mph cutter helped unlock another level for Matthews as a starter. The cutter gives him a weapon to keep lefties off balance, while the horizontal movement on his sweepy slider runs away from righthanded hitters. His above-average four-seam fastball touches 96 mph and sits at 93-94, and he mixes in a fringe-average curveball and changeup as well.

The Future: Matthews’ dominance at Low-A Fort Myers turned into effectiveness at High-A Cedar Rapids. He’ll be 24 for most of 2024, so there’s reason to start to speed his development.

Scouting Grades Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Cutter: 55 | Control: 60

Career Transactions

RHP Zebby Matthews assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
Cedar Rapids Kernels activated RHP Zebby Matthews.
RHP Zebby Matthews assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.