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Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month

Published

7 months ago

May 4, 2025

Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month

Once again, we’ll take a close look at the best youngsters the Twins minor league teams had to offer, and crown one pitcher as the best of the best, while also spotlighting the other performers who deserved attention.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Zebby Matthews)

Before we get to the list, let me quickly explain how I like to analyze starters. Innings are king; the ultimate point of pitching is to accrue outs, so I use innings as the center of my statistical solar system, in which everything else revolves around. That means I have a bias towards older players, which I try to account for and adjust. Then, I’ll evaluate how effective a player was at run prevention, which, again, is the ultimate job of pitching. Although they are presented, I’ve lessened my use of peripherals, as they are more descriptive of how a player will perform in the future, not how they did in the past, which is what these awards are about.

Finally, defining a “starting pitcher” in the minors is somewhat nebulous, as bulk hurlers will get time in as a starter, and as a bullpen arm depending on what the team needs. My line is this: a relief outing isn’t completely thrown out, but it weighs less than a start. Let’s get to the honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions
Jason Doktorczyk – A Fort Myers, 2.70 ERA, 20 IP, 3.34 FIP
Jason Doktorczyk perhaps enjoyed the most dominant start so far in the Twins’ minor league system, hurling a 0 ER, 10 K outing on the 18th. Three of his appearances came out of the bullpen, though, which kept him off the list proper.

Dasan Hill, A Fort Myers – 1.69 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 2.29 FIP
On efficiency alone, I don’t think anyone topped Dasan Hill, whose first foray into pro ball resulted in a 50% K rate across 10 ⅔ innings. That’s 21 whiffs. Disgusting stuff.

Christian MacLeod, A Fort Myers/AA Wichita – 0.00 ERA, 10 IP, 1.83 FIP
Because he spent time rehabbing an injury, Christian MacLeod ended the month with just 10 frames, but also didn’t allow a run, which seemed deserving of a mention.

Dylan Questad, A Fort Myers – 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 3.27 FIP
Dylan Questad has so far rebounded from a walk-filled showing at rookie ball, dominating A-ball with 18 strikeouts across 13 innings. Only two runs were scored off him.

Jose Olivares, A+ Cedar Rapids – 0.00 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 2.04 FIP
Again, zero earned runs. You literally can’t beat that. The total innings were low, though, which just narrowly kept Jose Olivares off the list.

5. Charlee Soto, A+ Cedar Rapids – 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 2.61 FIP, 28.3 K%
2025 has been kind to the former 2023 1st-rounder. While he often battled control issues in 2024—walking 33 batters across 74 innings—Charlee Soto appears to have found an elevated sharpness in his game. The walks are manageable—and he has so far dominated his competition.

There’s a lot to be excited about regarding Soto. 19 year olds pitching at A+ ball don’t grow on trees; and ones with fastball traits like Soto are even more rare. He’s more than four years younger than the average player at the level, and he’s doing so while throwing high-90s velocity with improved movement. Again, you simply don’t see pitchers like this every day.

The only bad news is that Soto is currently on the mend for right triceps soreness. Hopefully, he’s only off the mound for a short time.

4. Trent Baker, AA Wichita – 2.49 ERA, 21 ⅔ IP, 3.69 FIP, 21.5 K%
A newcomer to the organization, Trent Baker joined the Twins as a minor league Rule 5 pick following four seasons with the Cardinals franchise. A ninth-round selection out of Angelo State University, the same college as Fort Myers’ Kade Bragg, Baker was never a top prospect, but pitched well in 2022 and 2023 before suffering command problems in 2024. He was also a Mankato MoonDog in 2019.

Back in 2023, Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs mentioned Baker as an off-the-list guy to look out for, calling his changeup a “usual plus” pitch, while his delivery was “as violent as the end of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood and more typical of a reliever.”

He’s nonetheless buoyed the Wichita rotation so far in 2025. The righty made five starts, going at least three innings in all of them, while never allowing more than a trio of earned runs in any one outing. While other hurlers may have beat him in run suppression and efficiency, Baker came out on top in terms of innings; only one other pitcher named in this article threw more innings in April than him.

3. Cole Peschl, A Fort Myers – 0.00 ERA, 14 IP, 2.10 FIP, 33.3 K%
Like his rotation mate, Hill, Cole Peschl’s placement here is an acknowledgement of his ridiculous efficiency. 14 innings without an earned run is impressive no matter how you slice it; yet he did so with 19 strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.00, and an opposing batting average under .200. In his first month of professional baseball. That’s worthy of praise.

The Twins selected Peschl in the 15th round of the 2024 draft out of Campbell University, which claims a few notable current players like Cedric Mullins and Zach Neto (also, does the team have an obsession with the Carolinas? It seems to be a hotbed for players and prospects alike.) The righty held just a 5.48 ERA in college and almost transferred to Oregon, but he decided to join Minnesota, and the early returns look extremely promising.

He made an appearance on May 1st—which doesn’t count for this list—in which he tossed 3 1/3 scoreless while striking out eight, giving him an absurd 27 Ks over 17 1/3 clean frames to start the season. He certainly would have ranked even higher if all his outings were starts, and if that most recent outing didn’t come after April ended. In any case, the team usually has a late-round breakout pitcher, and Peschl looks like a good bet to be that this year.

2. Darren Bowen, AA Wichita – 1.50 ERA, 18 IP, 3.88 FIP, 22.5 K%
You don’t typically see a player eschew a 10 loss, 6.07 ERA season and dominate a higher level, but Darren Bowen’s April proved an exception. He was magnificent for the Wind Surge, never allowing more than one earned run in any of his outings, while tossing at least four frames in each appearance.

You may be forgiven if you forgot about Bowen, who was probably the least-known player arriving from the Mariners in the Jorge Polanco trade. While Anthony DeSclafani and Justin Topa were big leaguers—and Gabriel Gonzalez was a well-regarded prospect—Bowen was a small-school lotto ticket. His alma mater of UNC Pembroke has just one big leaguer—River Ryan.

Still, Bowen’s lankiness and projections made him a fascinating prospect. His 2024 was messy, but his 2025 is off to a tremendous start. He’ll claim the silver for our Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month honors today (there’s no actual award for this.)

1. Zebby Matthews, AAA St. Paul – 1.93 ERA, 23 ⅓ IP, 1.87 FIP, 30.9 K%
For maybe the 30th time as a pro, Zebby Matthews has been named Twins Daily’s Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month.

For as close as the rest of the list was, the winner was strangely straightforward: no other starter in the system married workload with efficiency like Matthews, who tossed the most innings of any Twins minor leaguer in April, while also carrying a sub-2.00 ERA. And he struck out over 30% of batters faced. Yeah, that’ll do.

Zebby’s April 1st start set the tone for the month. He totaled five remarkably clean innings, allowing a lone hit while striking out four. Then came the whiff monster: in back-to-back outings he punched out nine and seven batters, respectively, before ending with two relative clunkers.

(Relative being the key word: he allowed two earned runs across 8 1/3 innings but nonetheless allowed a lot of traffic, and was at least a little fortunate his ERA didn’t inflate more.)

Matthews is everything you would want in a pitcher. A big guy with stuff and command, he’s spent almost his entire professional career laying waste to minor league hitters; with them often spending most of their day against him walking back to the dugout, slumped and confused. Across 228 2/3 minor league innings, he holds a 3.07 ERA.

With Zebby, the only question left is opportunity; he’s clearly demonstrated a dominance of the minors, leaving the majors as his final stepping stone. Due to the nature of pitchers, he’ll invariably earn a chance—an injury here; a double-header there will make sure of that—and that’s when we will see if he can make the jump. Until then, he’ll have to settle for earning our Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month honors for April 2025.

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Witherspoon Earns AVCA All- Region Honors

Published

20 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta junior outside hitter Layne Witherspoon has been named an AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention selection following a standout 2025 campaign in which the Jaguars finished 25–9 and captured the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title.

Witherspoon delivered 346 kills on .295 hitting across 126 sets while adding 168 digs, 84 total blocks, and 433 total points. She tallied 17 double-digit kill performances, highlighted by a season-high 17 kills against Montevallo on Sept. 19 and a 21-point outing versus Francis Marion on Sept. 13. On the defensive side, she posted a season-best 14 digs at Flagler on Oct. 4 and recorded seven total blocks against Georgia College on Oct. 17. She was second on the team with 3.44 points per set.

A consistent presence in Augusta’s front row, Witherspoon helped power the Jaguars to their PBC regular-season championship and another postseason appearance.

Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags

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Hanson Wins Region Player of the Year, Cook Named Coach of the Year

Published

36 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gophers senior outside hitter Julia Hanson was named AVCA Northwest Region Player of the Year while Keegan Cook was named Coach of the Year, the organization announced today.

There are 14 first-team All-Region members and an additional group of honorable mention selections for each of the 10 regions. A Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year were selected for every region.

The 213 student-athletes who made All-Region represent 109 different schools. Nebraska leads the way with seven All-Region selections, followed by Pittsburgh and Stanford with six apiece. Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin all have five All-Region first-team or honorable mention selections.

Joining Hanson on the AVCA All-Northwest Region First Team were freshman opposite Carly Gilk and redshirt freshman setter Stella Swenson. Redshirt senior middle blocker Lourdes Myers and freshman middle blocker Jordan Taylor were named all-region honorable mention.

A Savage, Minn., native, Julia Hanson earns another major award after a magnificent senior season. She was also named a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection in 2025. During her fourth year in the Maroon and Gold, Hanson won Big Ten Player of the Week on Sept. 1 and was named MVP of the Golden Gopher Invitational on Aug. 31.

For the year, she totaled 26 10+ kill matches in 32 chances, posting a career-high 4.13 kills per set, a mark that ranked her fourth in the Big Ten. Hanson also hit a career-best .309, a mark that ranked her third among Big Ten pins.

She tallied five 20+ kill matches and averaged a career-best 0.30 service aces on the year. Her 26 aces in conference play put her at No. 8 in the conference. Defensively, Hanson posted 0.64 blocks and 1.60 digs per set. She was named as one of 30 players to the AVCA Preseason Player of the Year Watch List and was a Preseason All-Big Ten honoree. Hanson helped Minnesota reach its first Sweet 16 since 2022 after going for 36 kills last weekend in two matches (.500 hitting).

Coach Cook was named AVCA Region Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career and first at Minnesota. Cook led the Gophers to a 24-9 (12-8 Big Ten) record and a Sweet 16 appearance for the first time in his three years at the ‘U’. He and his coaching staff did this despite losing four starters to season-ending injuries in the first four weeks of the season. The Gophers played five freshmen starters for a majority of the season, including three-fourths of Big Ten competition. Minnesota also won four ranked matches this year, taking down No. 23 Indiana, No. 24 Penn State, No. 11 Purdue and No. 23 Iowa State.

Carly Gilk earned an all-region nod to go along with her Freshman All-Big Ten accolades. The rookie opposite posted 2.28 kills per set on a scorching .293 hitting in 2025. She also posted 1.70 digs, 0.60 blocks and 0.27 aces per set in 28 matches played. She had seven 10+ kill matches and seven 10+ dig matches on the year. Gilk had the best match of her freshman year on Oct. 26 at Purdue, tallying 15 kills (.364) and 10 digs in a five set match.

Redshirt freshman setter Stella Swenson added an all-region honor after being named All-Big Ten Second Team and to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. She averaged 9.78 assists, 2.16 digs, 0.61 blocks, 0.59 kills and 0.28 aces per set in her first year as a starter, playing in all 33 matches.

Swenson posted eight double-doubles, including a career-best 58-assist, 10-dig outing in a five-set win at Iowa. She ranked eighth in the Big Ten in assists per set and was fifth amongst setters with 0.59 kills per set. She was the first Minnesota freshman to post 1,000 assists in her rookie season since her sister, Samantha Seliger-Swenson, did so in 2015. Stella was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sept. 1 after being named to the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team. She was added to the AVCA Mid-Season Player of the Year Watch List as the only freshman on there,

Redshirt senior middle blocker Lourdes Myers had the best season of her career in 2025 in the Maroon and Gold. She was named AVCA All-Northwest Region Honorable Mention after going for 1.70 kills and 1.19 blocks per set, playing in all 33 matches. Myers had two 10+ kill matches in 2025, including a 12-kill, nine-block match at Washington. She had seven-or-more kills 13 times and five-or-more blocks 12 times. Myers ranked ninth in the Big Ten in blocks per set.

Freshman middle Jordan Taylor also earned AVCA All-Northwest Region Honorable Mention. She had a banner freshman season, averaging a team-best 1.24 blocks per set, playing in 30 matches. Taylor averaged 1.35 kills per set on .355 hitting, going for five-or-more kills 12 times. She had five+ blocks nine times, including a career-high 11 block match at Iowa on Nov. 16.

The Gophers (24-9, 12-8 B1G) compete in the Sweet 16 against No. 1 seeded Pittsburgh (28-4, 18-2 ACC) at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday. The match will be on ESPN2.

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Badgers Land Five on AVCA North All-Region Team

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52 minutes ago

December 10, 2025

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MADISON, Wis. – Five total players of the Wisconsin volleyball team were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) North All-Region Team. Outside hitter Mimi Colyer was named North Player of the Year, while head coach Kelly Sheffield was named Coach of the Year.

The Badger list of North All-Region First Team honorees consists of Carter Booth, Mimi Colyer, Grace Egan, Kristen Simon and Una Vajagic. Head Coach Kelly Sheffield also earned his sixth Coach of the Year honor.

Freshman Kristen Simon was one-of-three freshman named First Team. In the regular season, Simon played in 89-of-92 sets as the starting libero for Wisconsin. The Kentucky native led the team with 3.49 digs per set, chipped in with 14 service aces and averaged 1.10 assists per set. She reached double-figure digs 19 matches, including a season-best in her very first collegiate match against Kansas with 23. The 5-foot-8 libero also earned Big Ten All-Freshman this season.

For the first time in her career, right side hitter Grace Egan earned All-Region honors. Traditionally, an outside hitter, Egan moved over to the right side and averaged 2.43 kills per set, 2.19 digs per set, 3.09 points per set and chipped in with 25 service aces this season for the Badgers. She totaled three double-doubles (kills, digs) against Texas, Florida and Northwestern.

Outside hitter Una Vajagic steadily became one of the Badgers most dynamic players in the starting rotation. The Serbian native totaled 2.71 kills per set, 2.56 digs per set, and 3.07 points per set in her first full season with the Badgers. Vajagic also collected eight double-doubles (kills, digs) in the regular season, including a back-to-back double-doubles in her first two collegiate matches against Kansas and Texas. The 6-foot outside hitter also chipped in with 18 service aces for UW.

Senior Carter Booth claims her fourth All-Region honor and third with the Badgers. In all four years, she has been a First Team honoree, including Freshman of the Year when she was with Minnesota. In the regular season, Booth led the Badgers and ranked 5th in the NCAA with a .436 hitting percentage. She added 2.02 kills per set, 1.24 blocks per set and 2.70 points per set. Booth totaled eight matches where she didn’t have a hitting error, including a season best 11 kills on 15 swings with no errors. Defensively, Booth achieved a season best 10.0 blocks at Michigan St. on Nov. 15.

Also joining Booth as a four-time AVCA All-Region recipient is outside hitter Mimi Colyer. She also repeats as All-Region Player of the Year. As a freshman Colyer was named the Pacific North Region Freshman of the Year at Oregon, and in 2024, she was named the Northwest Region Player of the Year. In just one season with the Badgers, Colyer has already broken and is on pace to break several more single-season offensive program records. The California native reached double-figure kills in every match but one this season, including nine matches with 20 or more kills. Colyer averaged 5.32 kills per set, 5.93 points per set, 2.20 digs per set, and added 0.69 blocks per set. She also hit .334 in the regular season. Colyer totaled seven double-doubles including a season-best 25 kill, 18 dig performance at Washington on Oct. 24.

Head coach Kelly Sheffield earned his sixth All-Region Coach of the Year honor after leading the Badgers to a 24-4 regular season record, and a 17-3 Big Ten record for second place. Sheffield replaced nearly his entire starting rotation, including four All-Americans from a season ago.

Wisconsin is 1-of-55 teams assigned to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) North Region, joining just Michigan State as a Big Ten school representing the North Region.

FULL LIST OF AVCA ALL-REGION RECIPIENTS

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Women’s Volleyball Puts Three on AVCA All-East Coast Region Team – Penn State

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1 hour ago

December 10, 2025

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Three Penn State women’s volleyball players earned All-East Coast Region honors as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) on Tuesday. Gillian Grimes, Kennedy Martin, and Maggie Mendelson all received the award after helping the Nittany Lions qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the 45^th-consecutive season.

Grimes earned All-East Coast Region for the first time following her final collegiate season. The senior was a much-needed consistent player and presence as a team captain for Penn State. She was named the Big Ten Libero of the Year thanks to her impressive passing numbers. Defensively, she finished with 441 digs (3.64/set) and contributed offensively with her 30 aces. A two-time All-Big Ten selection, Grimes now turns her attention to the pro ranks as she will play for the San Diego Mojo in Major League Volleyball.

Martin put together one of the greatest statistical seasons in program history, etching her name in the Penn State record books. She set program records for the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) in kills (634), kills/set (5.42), points (728) and points/set (6.22). She was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in her first season in the conference and now adds All-East Coast Region recognition to the two All-Southeast Region awards she won at Florida.

Mendelson closes her collegiate volleyball career with her first All-East Coast Region award. The middle blocker hit .363 with 2.19 kills/set and tallied 91 blocks to lead the team’s defense at the net. She had 10 matches with double-digit kills, nine of which came during Big Ten play. She hit .500 or better in five of those matches.

Penn State has now had a middle blocker make an all-region team in back-to-back seasons as Mendelson joins Taylor Trammell (2024) as the recipients of the award. Grimes is the first Penn State libero to make all-region since Jenna Hampton in 2021, while Martin is the team’s first right side to earn the honor since 2021.

The 2025 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.

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Ugolini Named AVCA All-Region – America East Conference

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1 hour ago

December 10, 2025

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<br /> Ugolini Named AVCA All-Region – America East Conference <br />

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BOSTON – After claiming America East Player of the Year honors, Bryant’s Arianna Ugolini has been named Honorable Mention All-Region by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Ugolini led the conference in kills (419), service aces (43), and points (476.5) while helping Bryant claim a share of its first-ever regular season title. She is Bryant’s first-ever Player of the Year in volleyball and was a First-Team All-Conference selection.

ABOUT AMERICA EAST

Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.

– America East Conference – Where Champions Rise –

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Behrend sprinter wins at Houghton December Classic

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2 hours ago

December 10, 2025

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ERIE, Pa. — Penn State Behrend runner Carter Tobin won the 60-meter dash at the Houghton December Classic. He finished in 6.85 seconds — a qualifying time for the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference.

Tobin, a sophomore from Irwin, placed third in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 22.22 seconds.

Lee Qualk, a freshman from Coal Center, placed third in the triple jump, clearing a distance of 7.13 meters.

In the women’s events, the 4×200 relay team — Anna Buck, Caroline McDevitt, Abigail Falk and Ruby Lormejuste — placed third, finishing in 1:54.41.

Behrend’s basketball, swimming and diving and wrestling teams also were in action last week. Here are the scores and highlights:

Men’s basketball

Penn State Behrend 69, Carlow 53
Penn State Behrend 75, La Roche 71

Jacob Dunkle, a freshman from Washington, scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds against La Roche. Dolan Waldo, a senior from Pittsburgh, scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Women’s basketball

Penn State Behrend 94, Carlow 38
La Roche 68, Penn State Behrend 64

Alaina Fabin, a sophomore from Indiana, scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against La Roche. Emma Marsteller, a sophomore from Sandy Lake, scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds against Carlow.

Men’s swimming and diving

Penn State Behrend 129, Allegheny 70

Behrend’s 200 medley relay team — Nevin Rutherford, Evan Tritt, Nicolin Pierce and Michael Kali — won, finishing in 1:45.52. Isaac Stoeckle, a sophomore from Pittsburgh, won the 1,000 freestyle, finishing in 10:57.86. Kyle Malec, a freshman from Edinboro, won the diving events; he earned 198.35 points in the 1-meter event and 195.25 points in the 3-meter event.

Women’s swimming and diving

Penn State Behrend 154, Allegheny 106

Kaitlyn True, a freshman from Denton, Texas, won the 100 freestyle (59.42) and the 100 breaststroke (1:14.31). Izzy Sheridan, a senior from Orefield, won the 100 backstroke, finishing in 1:07.79. Rylee Ondrejko, a freshman from Washington, won the diving events; she earned 139.80 points in the 1-meter event and 150.20 points in the 3-meter event.

Wrestling