CHICAGO — Zebby Matthews clearly wasn’t his sharpest early Monday afternoon, and it proved costly. By missing locations multiple times in the first two innings, the Minnesota Twins’ starting pitcher surrendered a pair of home runs and gave the impression he could be in for a short outing.But unlike prior outings in his career, the former top-100 prospect adjusted his pitch mix and steered what could have been a disastrous outing into a solid day. Matthews navigated the Chicago White Sox lineup better late, relying less on his fastball and more on his off-speed pitches to provide the Twins with six strong innings.Matthews and the Twins ultimately lost the opener of a four-game series to Chicago 3-1 at Rate Field. Following an energetic effort that led to a series sweep of the Boston Red Sox, the Twins’ offense simply didn’t do enough to merit a victory.But similar to recent performances from his rotation mates, Matthews did plenty to keep the Twins close. Since taking over for a struggling Simeon Woods Richardson, Matthews provided a third straight quality start.He continues to fit in nicely with a Twins starting rotation that has kept the team competitive in a watered-down American League through the first third of the season.Twins pitching coach Pete Maki thinks a big reason for Matthews’ development from previous seasons is his ability to better handle failure.“He’s giving himself more grace,” Maki said. “He’s very hard on himself. He wants to be perfect, and I see a little bit of acceptance. It’s not always going to be a complete-game shutout every time he pitches. I think he’s giving himself a little grace and understanding that it’s not always going to be a sterling outing, and that’s helping him.”Thus far, the Twins’ starting pitching — considered one of Minnesota’s strengths coming into the season — is helping the club outperform its lowly preseason expectations. After trading nearly 40 percent of the team last July and shedding even more payroll, the Twins were projected to win 71.5-72.5 games this season.At the one-third mark, the 26-28 Twins aren’t exactly tearing it up. But, they’re not embarrassing themselves, either.Regardless of Monday’s results, the Twins at worst will wake up Tuesday tied for the final AL wild card spot. Whether they can maintain this level of play the rest of the season is a big if. But early, the Twins haven’t fallen flat despite numerous obstacles.“It’s not where we thought it was going to be because of injuries,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said of the rotation last week. “(But) what (the rotation) can do, what they can provide you collectively as a whole — we’ve done a really good job.”Through Monday, Twins starting pitchers are 17-17 with a 3.82 ERA. The group entered Monday tied for 10th in the majors with 4.8 Wins Above Replacement.They’ve managed this performance because their depth is delivering. Between Matthews and rookie Connor Prielipp, along with sterling contributions in long relief from fellow rookie Kendry Rojas, the Twins are receiving meaningful contributions from the upper levels of their farm system.That trio of young pitchers is helping the Twins navigate what could have been an early-season quagmire.From losing Pablo López to a season-ending UCL tear to injuries suffered by hard throwers Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, along with the struggles of Woods Richardson, the Twins have been tested repeatedly through their first 54 games.It’s similar to a scenario the Twins faced in 2025 when López and Matthews were injured in early June ahead of massive underperformance from Bailey Ober and Chris Paddack.But whereas last year’s team was sunk by poor starting pitching, this season’s group is showing it potentially can manage the situation better.Matthews’ outing Monday demonstrated how.Matthews, who posted a 5.56 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 79 1/3 innings in 2025, was all over the place early. His fastball command was absent, and the White Sox took advantage.First, Matthews missed his spot to Munetaka Murakami and the White Sox slugger launched a fastball for a game-tying solo homer. Later in the inning, Matthews hit Colson Montgomery after pulling another fastball.Though Matthews stranded a pair of runners in the first inning, he wasn’t as fortunate in the second. After issuing a leadoff walk, Drew Romo ripped a fastball up and in for a two-run homer that proved to be the game-winning hit.“I missed some spots early in the game, they made me pay for it,” Matthews said. “I kept pulling stuff over the plate.”Then he pulled himself together. In doing so, Matthews delivered much-needed length for a team just four games into a stretch of 17 consecutive days with a contest.Whereas he relied heavily on his fastball the first time through the order, Matthews turned to his slider and curveball the second time. He ended the second inning by striking out Murakami and inducing a Miguel Vargas popout. Allowing only a two-out single in the fourth, Matthews retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.Though he was saddled with the loss, Matthews’ effort meant the Twins escaped Monday’s opener using only two pitchers. Woods Richardson followed Matthews with two scoreless frames in relief.Matthews, who has a 2.37 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 19 innings this season, agrees going easier on himself is freeing him up to better adjust.“It’s a big piece,” Matthews said. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to baseball and when it comes to life in general. I’ve always been very hard on myself. It’s just the way I was raised. Learning how to slow everything down, breathe, not panic and understand that nobody’s ever going to be perfect, it’s definitely helped me a lot.”Whether the Twins can sustain this pitching performance remains to be seen. But at the very least, the Twins’ early-season showing has made them a lot more interesting than originally projected.