Twins updates: Zebby shows growth; Abel seeks second opinion; Jeffers recovering

MINNEAPOLIS – It’s hard to look at Zebby Matthews’ start Monday night in a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers as anything but a success. After all, he reached a career high in pitches, escaped from multiple jams, and kept one of the game’s most dangerous offenses to two runs over six innings.

And there’s no doubt, the performance showed some of the ways Matthews has grown in his third Major League season. It also showed where he still has room to improve, as he allowed homers to Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman on mistake pitches.

“I thought Zebby did a good job,” said manager Derek Shelton. “He left a changeup up, to maybe the greatest player of our generation, and he hit a homer. And then Freddie got a ball. But overall, I thought [Matthews] did a really good job.”

Matthews is a strike-thrower. The problem is that sometimes he’s too much in the zone, as he was on both homers. He hung a changeup to Ohtani and left a cutter middle-middle to Freeman in the sixth.

Otherwise, he was excellent. Particularly notable was Matthews’ success getting out of jams. He escaped first and second with one out in the second, first and second with two outs in the fourth and first and second with one out in the sixth.

For a pitcher who has, at times, been susceptible to big innings, that absolutely counts as growth.

“Just trying to execute pitches,” he said. “When runners get on, or there's traffic or whatever, just trying to slow the game down as much as possible and really focus on that next pitch and executing, regardless of the runners or whoever's at the plate, let's get them out.”

Ryan scratched

Right-hander Joe Ryan has been scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday against the Dodgers due to illness. Rookie Kendry Rojas will start in his place. Given that Rojas is not especially built up following a stint on the injured list, it’s likely he will not pitch deep into the game.

Abel update

Mick Abel underwent an MRI exam on Monday after being scratched from an expected start on Sunday due to renewed discomfort in his right elbow. The results came back later in the day, and while it wasn’t the worst news, it also wasn’t the best.

“He’s got swelling in the elbow joint,” Shelton said. “It’s basically a renewal of the old injury. That’s what we saw in the MRI. There’s no damage to the ligament, but we will get a second opinion from Dr. [Keith] Meister.”

Abel pitched five strong innings in a rehabilitation start at Triple-A on June 16, then felt good in a bullpen session on Friday. However, he took a turn for the worse the next day and was scratched from what would have been his return after missing more than two months.

Jeffers progressing, but it’s not linear

Catcher Ryan Jeffers, who has been out for five weeks due to a broken hamate bone in his left hand, has begun taking batting practice, but he’s still not sure when he’ll be able to swing a bat in a game.

“There’s good days, there’s bad days,” he said. “It’s a funky buildup just because it’s not a straight line. It’s not like rehabbing from an oblique where you can kind of timetable it out, of ‘Hey, a couple swings here, a couple swings there.’ Because there’s so much — not to get too medical on it – but there’s new pathways that the nerves and the tendons have to learn that just take a little time, but we’re in the swings, and we’re getting to above-arm BP swings. I like where we’re at.”

Jeffers said he’s not had any real issues on the defensive side, and in fact, he caught a bullpen session on Tuesday. The limiting factor will be hitting.

Minor moves

Two of the Twins’ top prospects will be changing addresses come Tuesday. Outfielder Walker Jenkins, the team’s No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 overall, finished his rehab assignment following a left shoulder sprain and will rejoin Triple-A St. Paul when it begins a series in Louisville on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, infielder Marek Houston, the team’s No. 7 prospect and its first Draft pick last year, has been promoted from High-A Cedar Rapids to Double-A Wichita. Houston is known for his outstanding glove at short, but he is also off to a strong start offensively this year, with a .325/.406/.461 line and 24 steals in 26 tries.