Where the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects are opening 2024 season: Brooks Lee, Walker Jenkins and more

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Minnesota Twins fans interested in keeping up on the farm system are in luck, because there’s never been a better time for tracking prospects.

You can get box scores updated in real time, watch highlights on social media moments after they happen, and stream full games. You can even hop over to St. Paul to experience the Triple-A talent live, which shouldn’t be taken for granted after the Twins spent the previous three decades with distant top minor-league teams in New York, Canada, Utah and Oregon.

As someone who has been professionally nerding out about prospects for more than 20 years, trust me when I say it’s a golden age of prospect-dom. But first, you need to know where to find the Twins’ top prospects this season.

Here’s a breakdown of where the prospects on my preseason Twins top-40 list are assigned to start 2024, and which of the system’s four full-season affiliates are the most stacked with future big leaguers. (Players assigned to rookie ball or who are no longer with the organization are not included here.)

MLB Minnesota

6. Austin Martin, 2B/OF
28. Kody Funderburk, LHP

If not for injuries, the Twins would likely have a rookie-free roster right now. Funderburk was the only rookie on the Opening Day squad, securing a bullpen spot as the No. 2 left-hander thanks to Caleb Thielbar’s hamstring strain, and the Twins also called up Martin to replace the injured Royce Lewis before the Triple-A season got underway.

By comparison, last year’s Opening Day roster had three rookies in the bullpen (Jovani Moran, Ronny Henriquez, Cole Sands) and a fourth rookie, Lewis, on the MLB injured list as he recovered from knee surgery. And yet by the end of last season, a total of nine rookies saw action for the Twins. I’d expect a similar number this year, but matching the impact of the 2023 rookie class is unlikely.

Triple-A St. Paul

2. Brooks Lee, SS
4. David Festa, RHP
15. Matt Canterino, RHP
18. Yunior Severino, 1B/3B
27. Jair Camargo, C
29. DaShawn Keirsey, CF
30. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP
34. Michael Helman, IF/OF
35. Jordan Balazovic, RHP
36. Anthony Prato, 2B/3B
37. Brent Headrick, LHP

St. Paul became the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and it’s been such an upgrade for local prospect hounds, who have the ability to watch the team’s next wave of young talent play, in person, just 20 minutes from Target Field. It’s also been convenient for Twins call-ups, and great for the players and their families, who can find season-long housing that works whether they’re in the majors or minors.

This is a strong prospect group heading to CHS Field, but it’s less star-studded than it appeared a few weeks ago because Martin immediately joined the Twins and Lee (back) and Canterino (shoulder) started the season on the Triple-A injured list. That leaves Festa, the Twins’ top pitching prospect, as their lone healthy top-15 prospect in St. Paul.

Festa and Woods Richardson are the next-in-line rotation depth, making them likely to play sizable roles for the Twins this year. If healthy, Lee might already be in the majors instead of Martin, and the consensus top-50 prospect could be in line for a May call-up. Canterino’s lengthy injury history makes mapping out his future tricky, but he could also move very quickly if/when healthy.

Camargo is the No. 3 catcher and already on the 40-man roster, so he’ll get the call if either Ryan Jeffers or Christian Vázquez is hurt. Severino and Headrick are also on the 40-man roster and likely to spend time with the Twins in 2024. Keirsey, Helman and Prato have longer call-up odds without a 40-man spot, but they’re intriguing, versatile bench options with big-league skill sets.

While no longer technically prospects, Jose Miranda and Trevor Larnach are in St. Paul working their way back into the Twins’ plans. And the Saints’ pitching staff is filled with former major leaguers, including Henriquez, Randy Dobnak, Diego Castillo, Jeff Brigham, Matt Bowman, Hobie Harris, Scott Blewett and Caleb Boushley. At least one will be in the Twins’ bullpen at some point.

Double-A Wichita

3. Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF
5. Marco Raya, RHP
7. Cory Lewis, RHP
8. Tanner Schobel, 2B/3B
11. Kala’i Rosario, COF
20. Andrew Cossetti, C/1B
24. Noah Cardenas, C
25. Pierson Ohl, RHP
31. Ben Ross, 3B/SS
33. Jaylen Nowlin, LHP

For many of the Twins’ top prospects, the Double-A Texas League represents a substantial jump in competition and their first high-minors test after thriving in the lower levels of the farm system. And this is a stacked collection of prospects, although Lewis, the Twins’ reigning minor league pitcher of the year, will begin the season on Wichita’s injured list because of shoulder fatigue.

Rodriguez, who just turned 21, is a consensus top-100 prospect with more star potential than any Twins minor leaguer save for perhaps Walker Jenkins. Raya is also 21 and on the verge of top-100 status himself, with many Twins officials viewing him as the organization’s highest-upside pitching prospect. They might only be together in Wichita for a good time, not a long time.

Schobel returns to Wichita after finishing last season there, and the 2022 second-round pick could be in St. Paul by midseason. Rosario, a right-handed slugger, was last year’s MVP of the High-A Midwest League at age 20. Cossetti, a star in college at St. Joseph’s who predictably crushed the low minors, will look to prove he’s legit against more polished arms. Cardenas is a solid, well-rounded catching prospect.

High-A Cedar Rapids

*5 1/2. Gabriel Gonzalez, COF
9. Luke Keaschall, 2B/CF
10. C.J. Culpepper, RHP
13. Danny De Andrade, SS
16. Ricardo Olivar, COF/C
17. Andrew Morris, RHP
19. Zebby Matthews, RHP
21. Connor Prielipp, LHP
38. Jose Salas, 2B/3B
39. Jay Harry, SS/2B

They aren’t quite Caitlin Clark-level attractions, but Cedar Rapids’ roster has a lot of promising prospects for the fine people of Iowa to enjoy. Gonzalez wasn’t on my top-40 list because he came over in the Jorge Polanco trade three weeks after it was published, but he’s a borderline top-100 prospect who likely would have slotted in at No. 6, between Raya and Martin. We’ll call it *5 1/2 here.

Keaschall, last year’s second-round pick out of Arizona State, and De Andrade, a high-profile 2021 international signing who turns 20 on April 10, are two of the Twins’ best all-around infield prospects. Olivar is one of my favorite under-the-radar bats in the system and a prime breakout candidate. Salas hit .190 after being a sweetener for the Twins in the Luis Arraez-for-Pablo López trade.

Using middle-round draft picks to take tall, right-handed college starters from smaller schools has become an annual strategy for the Twins, who have quickly helped them add velocity with mechanical tweaks. Culpepper and Matthews are examples from the 2022 draft class, which also included the 6-foot Morris from the decidedly not-small Texas Tech.

Prielipp was on track to be a top-10 pick in that 2022 draft class, but blew out his elbow at Alabama and fell to the Twins in the second round. He made it back from Tommy John surgery last spring, but logged just 6 2/3 innings before needing another surgery. Prielipp’s theoretical upside remains large, but the 23-year-old lefty will spend the first half on the injured list.

Low-A Fort Myers

1. Walker Jenkins, CF
12. Charlee Soto, RHP
14. Brandon Winokur, SS/CF
23. Jose Rodriguez, COF

Jenkins, the No. 5 pick in last year’s draft and crown jewel of the Twins’ farm, is already a consensus top-20 prospect as a 19-year-old with all of 26 games in the minors. His first full season will start in Fort Myers, where Jenkins hit .392 in a 12-game September cameo. He’ll be one of the youngest players in the Low-A Florida State League, but don’t expect him to be there for long.

Soto was the Twins’ “other” first-round pick last summer, selected 34th out of a Florida high school because of his upper-90s fastball and a projectable, 6-foot-3 frame. This is an aggressive assignment for Soto, who has yet to pitch in a minor-league game and won’t turn 19 until Aug. 31, but the Twins think he has front-line starter upside.

Winokur, last year’s third-round pick, is another high school draftee making the jump to full-season competition following a nice rookie-ball debut last summer. Despite being a 6-foot-6 skyscraper with eye-popping right-handed raw power, Winokur has the speed and athleticism to possibly stick at shortstop or center field. Fort Myers definitely won’t be short on high-upside talent this season.

(Photo of Walker Jenkins: Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins / Getty Images)





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About The Author

Avatar of Fannie Hogan
Fannie Hogan is a writer and editor who covers lifestyle, books, sports, education, and tech. She's always loved to write—from the time she was a little girl writing stories about talking animals to the day she got her first job as an editor at a lifestyle magazine. Her hobbies include long walks on the beach, running, and taking breaks from work to read a good book.

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