The final two months of the Twins’ season after the trade deadline have been devoted to assessing players at the major league level and figuring out who might fit into their future plans.
But behind that group of players, the Twins have another wave of talent coming, a group that led to their farm system being ranked No. 2 out of 30 organizations by MLB.com on its midseason list.
Since that ranking, Luke Keaschall has graduated from prospect lists and has become one of the Twins’ most exciting players. But there are plenty more to look forward to, including four prospects in MLB Pipeline’s top 100. With the minor league seasons now over, here’s a look at how the organization’s top 10 prospects, using MLB Pipeline’s list, performed this season:
No. 1: Walker Jenkins
Jenkins, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 draft, missed much of the beginning of the season with an ankle injury. But he performed at every level the Twins sent him to after that.
Jenkins spent a majority of his season at Double-A Wichita, where the 20-year-old outfielder hit .309 with a .912 OPS. He had 59 hits in 52 games there, including 19 for extra bases, and was on-base at a .426 clip.
His performance led to an August promotion to Triple-A, becoming one of the youngest players to play at that level. After a quick adjustment period, Jenkins slashed .296/.351/.479 in September for the St. Paul Saints.
No. 2: Eduardo Tait
The 19-year-old catcher, considered the best prospect the Twins acquired at the deadline — he was half of the return from Philadelphia for closer Jhoan Duran, along with Mick Abel — spent his season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced. In total, he had 111 hits through 112 games, hitting 14 home runs, driving in 71 and posting a .738 OPS. Tait is considered MLB Pipeline’s fifth-ranked catcher and sits just outside the top-50 prospects overall.
No. 3: Emmanuel Rodriguez
If not for injuries — first to his hip and then to his oblique — it’s not outlandish to think Rodriguez, 22, would have debuted at some point this season. Instead, the pair of injuries limited him to just 65 minor league games and just 52 at Triple-A, where he hit .258 with a .853 OPS. Rodriguez should figure into the Twins’ outfield plans at some point next season.
No. 4: Kaelen Culpepper
Culpepper, the Twins’ first-round pick in 2024, had a superb first full season in professional ball, hitting .289 with a .844 OPS, starting his season at Class-A Advanced Cedar Rapids and finishing it at Double-A.
Culpepper, 22, hit 20 home runs and drove in 64 runs across the two levels. While he played a little bit of second and a little bit of third, he primarily handled shortstop duties.
For his efforts, he was named the Twins’ Minor League Player of the Year on Tuesday.
No. 5: Mick Abel
Abel is the only one on this list who has made his major league debut, which came earlier this year with Philadelphia. Abel had a strong year at Triple-A, posting a 2.20 earned-run average with 114 strikeouts across 98 1/3 innings and cutting his walk rate dramatically from a season ago.
The early results in the majors haven’t been quite so good — he has given up 27 earned runs in 33 career innings — but his last outing was his best as a Twin, allowing two runs in four innings out of the bullpen against the Cleveland Guardians over the weekend.
No. 6: Kendry Rojas
The Twins’ front office was excited to acquire Rojas, a left-handed starting pitcher, as part of the trade that sent hometown reliever Louie Varland and first baseman Ty France to Toronto at the deadline.
The 22-year-old has missed a lot of time with injuries in recent years, including the start to the 2025 season, which was delayed by a couple of months because of an abdominal injury.
He performed well at Double-A this season, though the jump to Triple-A, where he is on the younger side of starters, was an adjustment. He finished with a 7.24 ERA in nine starts at the highest level of the minors.
No. 7: Marek Houston
The Twins selected Houston 16th overall in the June draft out of Wake Forest and sent him first to Class-A Fort Myers before promoting him to Cedar Rapids. A surehanded defender at shortstop, Houston hit well in his first taste of the minors, posting a .370/.424/.444 line with a .868 OPS in 12 games before bumping up to Cedar Rapids, where he finished his season with 12 more games.
No. 8: Dasan Hill
Hill, a second-round pick in the 2024 draft, performed well this season in his first taste of pro ball. The 19-year-old lefty spent much of his season with Class-A Fort Myers, where he posted a 2.77 ERA across 16 starts, striking out 68 in 52 innings (11.8 strikeouts per nine innings).
While the Twins limited his innings, he finished the season at Cedar Rapids, where he threw a season-high five innings and struck out seven in his final start.
No. 9: Gabriel Gonzalez
Gonzalez, whom the Twins acquired as part of the Jorge Polanco trade before last season, had one of the best seasons among Twins minor leaguers. The outfielder jumped from Class-A Advanced to Double-A to Triple-A, where he finished his season.
He hit above .315 at every level. He finished hitting .329 with a .395 on-base percentage and an .909 OPS with 15 home runs and 38 doubles.
No. 10: Connor Prielipp
Like Hill, the Twins carefully monitored Prielipp’s innings. The starter was coming off of Tommy John surgery when they drafted him, and he had an internal brace procedure on his elbow in 2023.
Last year he threw 23 1/3 innings. This year, that number jumped to 82 2/3 between Wichita, where he spent most of his season, and Triple-A.
Prielipp finished the season with a 4.03 ERA between the two levels, striking out 10.7 batters per nine innings. On Tuesday, he was named the Twins’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
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