Connor Prielipp’s MLB Success Is Helping Him Come Out Of His Shell

Minneapolis – Minnesota Twins rookie Connor Prielipp is not the most talkative person in the world. He keeps his answers short and to the point with the media, teammates, and coaches. However, when he’s on the mound, he lets his pitching speak more for him.

It spoke loudly and noticeably across the league Monday night when he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of his second career start. Connor Prielipp allowed a hit to lead off the fifth inning and two walks. Still, he worked himself out of a jam to keep it a 7-2 game and complete five full innings on 84 pitches.

Most pitchers who had results like Prielipp’s in their second start would be full of emotion. But his reaction coming off the mound was cool and calm, as if it were just any other day at the office for him.

“I’m curious at times if he has a pulse,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “I think I said it in spring training. I walked by him and said he had to smile every day. He’s very even-keeled.”

“I knew what was at stake, and I was really excited to finish it off,” Prielipp said. “When Pete [Maki] came out, he was telling me to slow down, and I did. I was able to buckle down and get through the fifth."

Even-keeled personalities are not as common as they used ot be in MLB, but Prielipp stands out as a one-of-one in the Twins clubhouse. The Tomah, Wisc., native was the talk of west-central Wisconsin coming up through high school, even if he didn’t have much to say himself.

Now that he’s in the majors, it might be the right opportunity for him to grow out of his shell and open up more. It may take some time, but his teammates believe that he will grow more comfortable.

“His mannerism and stuff, he’s super chill,” said first baseman Kody Clemens. “Even today, it was funny. He was like, ‘I don’t have a walkout song or whatever, so y’all pick one for me. I don’t even care.’ It’s just like that, not monotone, but he just has no emotion, and it shows out there. He goes out there and just competes, and that’s kind of what you want.”

“I don’t really know him much personally yet,” said Ryan Jeffers, who caught him on Monday. “We’re still new teammates. And he is quiet. So, you do have to help him some. And that’s not a bad thing at all. Sometimes, I would rather have pitchers on that side of things and just purely focused on what they’re doing, than on the other side of it.”

It may take more time before Prielipp shows more of his personality or even has a walkout song of his choice. He looks to be on the shorter end of the workload leash when it comes to Minnesota's starting rotation. Given the lengthy extent of his injury history, and pitching the most innings (82 ⅔) he’s had since high school, the Twins don’t see any need to push him past 85-90 pitches or five to six innings this early in the year.

“This is a kid that has less than 150 innings and threw 28 innings in college,” said Shelton. “Has not thrown on five days, on regular rest. We’ll continue to be mindful of where his pitch count is. I don’t think we’ll see his pitch count jump up incrementally the way we’ve seen our other guys, because of the fact of the lack of reps.”

Any organization that had a pitcher who had only thrown a total of 37 innings over four years between college and pro ball would want to err on the side of caution with their workload. Even after the 2025 season, when he only missed one start due to a blister, Connor Prielipp still has plenty of room for growth within the game.

He did so with his pitch arsenal this off-season, adding a curveball into the mix to get hitters off balance whenever they’d be looking for his slider or changeup in two-strike counts. Now the Twins are excited to see more of his personality as he grows more confident after each outing.

“He’s still so young and new to not just the big leagues but pro ball in general,” Jeffers said. “He’s been in the org for a little while, but he hasn’t thrown a ton. So I think pitching at this level, not that the stage is too big, because it’s not at all.

“You saw what he went out there the other day. But I think he needs to learn that it’s OK to show some emotion, to get fired up. That’s just going to come with time and learning, and hopefully I can help with that some.”