Fun Takeaways From Fangraphs' Updated Twins Prospect Ranking

Prospect rankings are mostly the Fruit Stripe gum of the baseball content candy aisle. At first, you’re hit with a delightful splash of new flavor. However, once it wears off after the first few precious moments, the exercise can quickly become relatively bland and fruitless.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big follower of a few rankings that make their way into circulation (and I love Fruit Stripe gum). They serve a purpose in those moments throughout a season, but people often overcite them as the year goes on and the information gets stale. That’s why it’s imperative for these sources to provide list updates on a global ranking scale, which many offer plenty of updates throughout the year, and on a team-to-team basis.

Fangraphs is one of my more trusted sources for prospect information, and they released their updated Twins prospect rankings last week. I appreciate Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan's perspective on these write-ups, even if I have a few differing opinions. They offer great peaks into the current steam for these minor leaguers, with consistently accurate estimates of when these youngsters could make an impact at the game’s highest level.

I encourage everyone to check them out, but here are some big takeaways that caught my eye.

Praising Prielipp

One of the biggest risers on this list is former second-round pick Connor Prielipp, who has been absolutely lethal this year. The former Alabama product has made 10 appearances for Double-A Wichita on the season and boasts a 3.13 ERA that doesn’t tell the entire story.

Minnesota has limited the length of the exciting southpaw's outings, largely due to his extensive injury history, including Tommy John surgery in 2023. However, as has been the case for almost his entire career dating back to high school, Prielipp’s raw stuff has been electric whenever he is healthy enough to take the mound.

His fastball shape and upper-90s velocity pair exquisitely with his wipeout slider and improving changeup. The development of that third pitch in his repertoire and better health could be the key factors in his future as a starter. However, with his high-octane raw stuff and conservative inning count, it’s fun to imagine him in the big league bullpen at some point. Fangraphs seems to agree, and they see his stock continuing to rise.

If the Twins remain competitive in the second half and Prielipp maintains his health and production, he could be a fun relief option, even if he has some training wheels attached.

Teenage Dreams

Fangraphs' updated list shows lots of love for some of Minnesota's youngest prospects. Not only are there some potential jewels that are still teenagers, but a few exciting names just recently crossed the two-decade mark, so I’ll include them in this takeaway.

Two exciting young pitchers the Twins drafted out of high school, Charlee Soto (No. 6 on the list) and Dasan Hill (No. 7), have impressed in their first tastes of professional baseball. They took Soto in the supplemental first round of the 2023 draft. Although he’s been on the shelf since late-April, he still possesses a high ceiling as a mid-rotation starting pitcher.

Hill's big 6’5” frame gives him some projectability, especially if he can maintain his new-look fastball when he returns. The Twins took him in the second round of last year’s draft, and he’s been electric in the first nine starts of his professional career. Hill owns a 1.65 ERA with a dazzling 38.7% strikeout rate. Still, his control is reeling, and he has a 14.4% walk rate. Still, Hill's early numbers have been quite impressive, and he should be a name to watch over the coming years.

Other youngsters getting steam in this update include Brandon Winokur (No. 14), who recently turned 20 and is quickly making up for a rough first month of this season. The tall slugger is hitting .239/.301/.537 in June, which is about 27 percent above league average. That’s a high level of production, and it’s even more exciting when you consider he’s about two and a half years younger than average for the High-A level.

If he keeps hitting like this while providing defensive value at shortstop and in the outfield, he should be a top-10 prospect in Fangraphs' next update.

Time will tell whether any of these players make a true difference for the big league club. At the very least, this update gives readers a splash of flavor while we wait.