Daniel Zebulon Matthews (born May 22, 2000) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.
Matthews attended Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva, North Carolina and played college baseball at Western Carolina University.[1]
Matthews was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the eighth round, with the 234th overall selection, of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.[2] He signed with the Twins and spent his first professional season with the rookie–level Florida Complex League Twins and Single–A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Matthews started 2023 with Fort Myers before being promoted to the High–A Cedar Rapids Kernels. In 22 games (20 starts) for the two affiliated, he accumulated a 7–3 record and 3.84 ERA with 112 strikeouts across 105+1⁄3 innings pitched.[3][4]
Matthews began the 2024 campaign with Cedar Rapids and later received promotions to the Double–A Wichita Wind Surge and Triple–A St. Paul Saints. On August 13, 2024, Matthews was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[5] Matthews made 9 starts for Minnesota during his rookie campaign, struggling to a 1-4 record and 6.69 ERA with 43 strikeouts across 37+2⁄3 innings pitched.
Matthews was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul to begin the 2025 season.[6]
