On December 28, Sunday Notes led with a have a look at how seven of the 9 place gamers projected to begin for the Minnesota Twins this coming season have been drafted by the membership in both the primary or second spherical. (The column additionally cited homegrown numbers for a number of different organizations.) Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey was quoted extensively throughout the piece, providing perspective on how the present roster got here collectively.
Immediately we’ll hear from Twins GM Jeremy Zoll, in addition to from Falvey, on a quartet of first- and second-round picks who’ve but to succeed in Minnesota. One is a center infielder, three are pitchers, and all rank among the many workforce’s high prospects. I requested about every of them when the executives met with members of the media in the course of the Winter Conferences.
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“It was Kaelen’s first full season, and he had an superior yr,” Zoll mentioned of 23-year-old shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, whom the Twins drafted twenty first general in 2024 out of Kansas State College. “He was between Excessive-A and Double-A, and we couldn’t have requested for it go a lot better. We’re actually happy. He had the chance to go to the Futures Recreation.
“He’s primarily taking part in shortstop, however he’s additionally getting some early work at second base and third base, in addition to somewhat little bit of sport publicity at each spots. We’ll proceed to let that play out as we get by means of spring coaching and into the season. We’ll determine it out precisely when it comes to placement and proximity. We at all times form of let the participant dictate that together with his efficiency, however he’s put nearly as a lot stress on us [as anyone] when it comes to us wanting to maintain shifting him, and protecting him challenged.”
Culpepper slashed .289/.375/.469 with 20 dwelling runs and a 133 wRC+ in 517 plate appearances between Excessive-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita.
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“Good query,” Zoll replied when requested in regards to the chance that the Twins would fast-track 21-year-old right-hander Riley Fast, whom they chose thirty sixth general this previous summer time out of the College of Alabama. “We had him throwing down in Fort Myers, post-draft, so we have to get him included into affiliated ball and right into a full season. However we’re actually enthusiastic about Riley. We have been actually pumped that he was obtainable at that spot — we weren’t certain he was even going to be there — however we wish to let him settle in, and we’ll go from there.”
“I’ll add to that,” interjected Falvey. “With the place the draft is now within the calendar yr, particularly with these school pitchers who’ve thrown an honest quantity, it’s exhausting for them to ramp again up. So, that first yr is form of an introduction to professional ball. The subsequent yr is when we’ve to see, ‘What does the season appear to be?’ It’s made the monitor on that somewhat totally different than possibly it’s been earlier than. We’re not going to hurry any of these guys; we’re going to ensure they get a very good basis.”
As Zoll famous, Fast didn’t pitch for an affiliate after being drafted and signed by the Twins. He logged a 3.92 ERA, a 3.49 FIP, and a 25.9% strikeout charge in his junior yr at Alabama.
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“We’re enthusiastic about Dasan,” Zoll mentioned of 20-year-old southpaw Dasan Hill, who was drafted 69th general in 2024 out of Grapevine Excessive Faculty in Texas. “He did a very nice job of lacking bats. His changeup got here alongside very well. He had an extremely excessive swing-and-miss [rate] on that pitch. The breaking balls have been a undertaking in spring coaching, they usually saved getting higher and higher because the yr went alongside. Straightforward velo from the left aspect, and it seems to be prefer it’s going to be a full four-pitch combine.
“We’re excited to maintain pushing him. We challenged him in Excessive-A on the finish of the yr. He is aware of that he needs to be within the zone somewhat bit extra. That might be a giant factor for him, getting forward of hitters and staying forward somewhat bit extra. He has a extremely vivid future. His physique is projectable and can maintain filling out.”
“He’s 19 and simply getting began,” Falvey added. “The changeup is absolutely, actually good — it’s a weapon pitch — however like [Zoll] mentioned, there’s a number of maturation coming with this child. There’s not simply understanding find out how to pitch, but in addition his physique and physicality.”
Hill debuted professionally this previous summer time and put up a 3.19 ERA, a 3.35 FIP, and a 31.1% strikeout charge over 62 innings between Low-A Fort Myers and Excessive-A Cedar Rapids.
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“We really feel that Connor took a extremely good step ahead this yr, getting in as many innings beneath his belt as he did,” Zoll mentioned of 24-year-old left-hander Connor Prielipp, who was drafted forty eighth general in 2022 out of the College of Alabama. “We’re excited to get him into our early program in Fort Myers and work on ending creating his combine. That early spring coaching might be informative as we attempt to map issues out for the yr, determining what’s finest for him, and for us.”
“The most important factor was simply getting him to gather the innings,” mentioned Zoll, replying to a followup query from The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. “Clearly, we labored actually exhausting to handle his workload. We needed to get him by means of the entire yr. The innings have been fairly brief for the primary half. We saved looking for a option to get him to 5 or 6 innings, and for one purpose or one other he had an inning he simply couldn’t get out of. However then [for him] to finish the season on a excessive notice, really eclipsing these marks a few occasions, was actually encouraging.
“The power to make use of all three of his pitches… with us wanting [him] to discover a fourth, he began to tinker with a sinker on the finish of the season, as nicely. There are a few totally different tweaks — now that he’s been in a position to accumulate a full season — that we will begin to attempt to push somewhat bit additional, to see what occurs.”
Prielipp posted a 4.03 ERA, a 3.54 FIP, and a 27.0% strikeout charge over 82 2/3 innings between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul.