The start of spring training is just two weeks away, and it’s a good time to review where former Minnesota Twins prospects ended their 2024 seasons and where they might be starting off to start 2025.
Here’s a look at MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Twins Prospects in 2022 and how their 2024 seasons played out.
1. Royce Lewis
2024 Season End: Twins Active Roster
The good news for Lewis is he ended the 2024 season healthy and on the field. The bad news is that he didn’t hit well at the end of the year. Lewis only had one home run, seven RBI, and a .181/.245/.255 triple slash to finish out the final month season.
He has spent this off-season reconfiguring his swing in Texas and training with teammate Trevor Larnach to keep in shape. Despite discussions of a possible move to second base for Lewis this off-season, Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey told reporters at the media luncheon on Jan. 24 that they intend to keep him as their primary third baseman.
Lewis knows he could have done much more for the Twins down the stretch this past season. He’s doing everything he can to be a star again in 2025.
2. Austin Martin
2024 Season End: Twins Active Roster
Martin made his much-anticipated MLB debut with the Twins on just the second day of the season following Lewis’s injury on Opening Day. However, Martin had difficulty adjusting to MLB pitching, going just 14-for-62 (.226 batting average) in his first stint with the big league club.
Still, each time the Twins optioned back down to Triple-A, he crushed pitching at that level, proving his capabilities to be at the next level. Between four trips from the major leagues to the Triple-A roster and a stint on the injured list in July, Martin never had the opportunity to get consistent playing time in a starting role with the big league club.
He looks to remain a platoon utility player between the outfield and second base in 2025 and hopes to improve upon a lackluster rookie season at the plate.
3. Jose Miranda
2024 Season End: Injured List
Miranda made the most significant jump in prospect rankings from any Twins player, going from 20th in their system in 2021 to third in 2022. His leap in ratings resulted from his hot performance at the plate in 2021. He also was Minnesota’s Minor League hitter of the year.
Last year, Miranda had some of the hottest and coldest hitting streaks on the Twins this season. He recorded a base hit in 12 consecutive at-bats at the start of July. However, he ended the season going 0-for-19 before landing on the injured list with a lower back strain.
Miranda projects being Minnesota’s first baseman every day this year. Fortunately, Miranda is reuniting with Matt Borgschulte, his hitting coach from his impressive 2021 season. If Borgschulte can get Miranda to hit like he did four years ago, he will be invaluable to the Twins lineup this year.
4. Joe Ryan
2024 Season End: Injured List
Many people believe Minnesota’s loss to the Texas Rangers on Aug. 17 began the downfall of their 2024 season. However, the day Ryan went on the injured list for the remainder of the season ended their postseason chances.
Ryan was putting on a career-best performance on the mound in 2024 before his season ended abruptly on the mound at Wrigley Field on Aug. 7. Ryan’s shoulder injury left him with 23 starts on the season with a 3.60 ERA and a career-low 0.98 WHIP in 135 innings.
His absence from the rotation at the end of the season put lofty expectations on Zebby Matthews as he made his MLB debut ahead of schedule.
If Ryan can remain healthy for 2025 and repeat his success from 2024, it will greatly help Minnesota’s chances to get back into the postseason.
5. Jordan Balazovic
2024 Season End: KBO Doosan Bears
Heading into 2022, Balazovic was coming off a strong season in Minnesota’s farm system, having posted a 3.62 ERA in 97 innings at Double-A Wichita in 2021. However, injuries and some off-field issues in Spring Training 2023 saw Balazovic’s stock drop significantly.
2022 was the last time he’d crack any top 10 Twins prospect list.
Balazovic started the 2024 season in the Twins system after a decent rookie campaign with the Twins in 2023, during which he pitched in 18 games and posted a 4.44 ERA. However, his struggles outweighed his success. He owned a 5.60 ERA in 35 ⅓ innings of work with the Saints before the KBO League’s Doosan Bears signed him.
Doosan used Balazovic as a starter for the first time since 2022 and improved his stuff. He had a 4.26 ERA in 11 starts and struck out 10.9 batters per nine, which earned him a return to the States on a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers this off-season.
6. Jhoan Duran
2024 Season End: Twins Active Roster
Duran had an up-and-down season with the Twins last year. Starting the season on the injured list recovering from an oblique strain, Duran returned with a downtick in his fastball velocity. He was still hitting 100 MPH with his fastball and 98 MPH with his splinker, but he threw 101 or 102 more often than he had the two seasons prior.
Duran allowed two or more runs in six outings this season, and he had only six outings in the past two seasons combined when he allowed two or more runs. Despite the setbacks, Duran still was valuable in Minnesota’s bullpen in 2024, recording 23 of 25 save opportunities.
If he has a fully healthy 2025, it’s possible he can return to form and be as dependable as he was in his first two seasons with the Twins.
7. Josh Winder
2024 Season End: Triple-A St. Paul Injured List
Winder had an up-and-down year between the majors and minors. He started the season on the 60-day injured list with an injured shoulder, and the Twins sent him down to Triple-A after activating him.
He performed well on the mound during his limited time with the Twins. Winder posted a 3.00 ERA, allowed only one walk, and struck out 10 in nine innings of work across four major league appearances. However, he didn’t pitch as well in the minors. Over 29 Triple-A games, Winder posted a 6.45 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, and 62 hits in 44 ⅔ innings and finished the season on the injured list with a right forearm strain.
Following his removal from the 40-man roster at the start of the off-season, Winder signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
8. Simeon Woods Richardson
2024 Season End: Triple-A St. Paul
Minnesota’s 2024 Rookie of the Year made his final start of the season on Wednesday, Sept. 25. With only four games left on the Twins’ schedule after that start, they optioned Woods Richardson to Triple-A to add more arms to the bullpen.
Even with Woods Richardson’s season ending in the minors, it doesn’t diminish his accomplishments this season. Woods Richardson stepped up early when Louie Varland struggled in the rotation. He maintained a sub-4.00 ERA through 117 innings across 23 starts through August.
However, Woods Richardson felt fatigued in September. He accumulated a career-high in innings pitched at 147 between Triple-A and the Majors. Woods Richardson has come a long way from the prospect he was in 2022, and it looks like he’ll be part of the Twins Opening Day rotation this season.
9. Matt Canterino
2024 Season End: Injured
Canterino has rarely caught a break on the injury front since his 2022 season ended early with Tommy John surgery. In Spring Training, it looked like he would have a promising 2024 season. However, he suffered a right subscapularis strain that kept him out for the entire season.
Given his injury history, Canterino probably won’t start in the majors. Still,t if he can remain healthy, he has the stuff to become one of Minnesota’s most effective relievers.
10. Noah Miller
2024 Season End: Dodgers Double-A Affiliate
Miller was the last of Minnesota’s top five picks from the 2021 draft who it traded to upgrade the roster. Last March, the Twins sent Miller to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Manuel Margot and infield prospect Rayne Doncon.
While Margot didn’t pan out for the Twins, Doncon had an impressive first season in Minnesota’s minor league system, posting a .254/.342/.431 triple slash in 94 games. Miller had his best season at the plate between High-A and Double-A but still proved to be a better defender than a batter.
Miller will enter his age-22 season in 2025. Even if he has a new swing at the plate, he would have a hard time cracking into a crowded Dodgers battery filled with All-Star and MVP-caliber talent.
11. Spencer Steer
2024 Season End: Cincinnati Reds Active Roster
Steer has become one of Minnesota’s better prospects that got away. Still, it wasn’t surprising when they traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in 2022 as part of the Tyler Mahle deal.
Lewis, Martin, and Miranda were all ahead of him on the depth chart. Minnesota’s infield prospect pool only grew more when they drafted Brooks Lee in the first round of the 2022 draft.
However, Steer quickly became an everyday player for the Reds. As a rookie in 2023, he posted a .271/.356/.464, 23 home runs, 86 RBI, and a .355 wOBA in 156 games.
Steer missed only four games with the Reds last year. He regressed but was still a productive player. Steer posted a .225/.319/.402 triple slash with 20 home runs, 92 RBI, and a .316 wOBA. He looks like an everyday player, bouncing around the Reds infield and outfield again in 2025.
12. Matt Wallner
2024 Season End: Twins Active Roster
Despite a 2-for-25 slump to start the season, Wallner became one of Minnesota’s better hitters for 2024 after reconfiguring his swing at Triple-A for two months. Wallner returned to the Twins lineup on July 7, hitting a .282/.386/.559 triple slash, 12 home runs, 33 RBI, and a .945 OPS in 62 games.
Wallner’s second-half resurgence made up for his slow start. He will open as Minnesota’s right fielder next season after Max Kepler signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Wallner may not be the same caliber defensive player as Kepler. Still, having his arm in right field every day will reduce the number of opposing base runners trying to extend singles to doubles.
13. Misael Urbina
2024 Season End: High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels
Urbina has slowly progressed through the minors since the Twins signed him as a 17-year-old out of Venezuela in 2019. He spent the second consecutive season at High-A Cedar Rapids and improved upon his 2023 season, hitting .218/.335/.324 in 101 games with the Kernels.
What Urbina has lacked in offensive skills over the years, he’s made up for with his defensive skills in all three outfield positions. Urbina still has one more year under team control before qualifying for minor-league free agency. He’ll be 23 in April and will likely begin his 2025 season with Double-A Wichita.
14. Ronny Henriquez
2024 Season End: Triple-A St. Paul
In 2022, the Twins landed Henriquez in Spring Training as part of the deal that sent Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Felefa. Kiner-Felefa’s time with the Twins in camp was brief. Minnesota later sent him to the Yankees alongside Josh Donaldson. However, Henriquez has stuck around.
He’s bounced around as a starter and reliever over the last three seasons, the Twins ultimately used him as a reliever full-time last year. Settling into the bullpen full-time, Henriquez had his best season in the Twins organization at Triple-A and the majors. With the St. Paul Saints, Henriquez posted a 3.44 ERA in Triple-A 55 innings and a 3.26 ERA in 19 ⅓ innings with the Twins.
The Twins DFA’d Henriquez after officially announcing their one-year, $3 million deal with Danny Coulombe on Friday. He has yet to be claimed by another team.
15. Louie Varland
2024 Season End: Twins Active Roster
The hometown fan favorite made his first crack on an MLB top 30 prospect rankings in 2022. Varland has shown flashes of success as a starter and reliever in the last three years. However, his time in the starting rotation seemed to fizzle out in 2024.
Varland gave up 27 hits, 17 earned runs, nine walks, and six home runs in his first four starts of the season. The Twins sent him back down to Triple-A to reconfigure his stuff, specifically his cutter. After spending a month and a half with the Saints, Minnesota recalled Varland to pitch one start and one long relief outing in mid-June. He showed signs of improvement, allowing only two runs and six hits in 9 ⅓ innings of work.
However, all hopes of Varland reconfiguring his stuff as a starter again quickly vanished when he returned to Triple-A. He had a start where he allowed 12 runs in just 2 ⅓ innings.
Varland still had struggles when the Twins recalled him in September to join the bullpen, but his final five outings of the year showed the same flashes of brilliance he had out of the bullpen just a year ago as the Twins made their push for the 2023 postseason.
16. Aaron Sabato
2024 Season End: Double-A Wichita
Sabato’s stock dropped significantly going into the 2022 season compared to where it was a year after the Twins took him in the first round of the 2020 draft. Sabato posted a .202/.373/.410 triple slash with 19 home runs and 57 RBI between Low-A and High-A.
Sabato’s numbers have plateaued over the last few seasons. As a result, he’s fallen toward the bottom or completely off Minnesota’s organizational prospect rankings. Sabato has two years still under team control in the minors. He’ll turn 26 on June 4. Given his age, he’ll likely start the season in St. Paul, his first Triple-A opportunity.
17. Cole Sands
2024 Season End: Twins Active Roster
No one had a better case for Minnesota’s most-improved player in 2024 than Sands, who was voted the most-improved player at the Diamond Awards. Sands rarely got consistent time on the mound in 2023, appearing in only 15 games all season.
Over 62 relief appearances, Sands posted a 3.28 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, struck out 85, and only walked 12 batters in 71 ⅓ innings. He was one of the only three reliable Twins relievers down the stretch, and he should have a larger role in the bullpen pecking order going into 2025.
18. Emmanuel Rodriguez
2024 Season End: Injured List
Rodriguez slowly increased in Minnesota’s farm system ranks from 2021 to 2022, going from the 21st-best prospect to the 18th spot. He’s now Minnesota’s second-best prospect and has been productive when healthy in 2024.
Between Double-A and Triple-A, Rodriguez hit .280/.459/.567 with nine home runs (including an inside-the-park grand slam for his first homer in Triple-A), 27 RBI, and a 1.026 OPS in 47 games. However, Rodriguez had trouble staying on the field due to a right thumb sprain that plagued him all year.
The right thumb strain resurfaced during a game against the Columbus Clippers on Sept. 11, and his season ended there. Rodriguez will likely begin his 2025 season in Triple-A and make his MLB debut by mid-summer.
19. Drew Strotman
2024 Season End: Sacramento River Cats (Giants Triple-A Team)
Strotman was the other player the Tampa Bay Rays included with Ryan in the deal that sent Nelson Cruz to central Florida in 2021. After acquiring Strotman, the Twins threw him into St. Paul’s rotation, but he had a 7.33 ERA in 12 starts (54 innings) with the Saints.
In 2022, the Saints used him in the bullpen, but he didn’t improve much. In 39 relief outings, he posted a 6.44 ERA in 50 ⅓ innings. He spent most of the season on the Twins 40-man roster, but they DFA’d him on Sept. 17, 2022, and the Rangers picked him up two days later.
Strotman spent the last two seasons bouncing between organizations, spending 2024 with the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A teams. He combined for a 3.86 ERA in 38 relief outings. Strotman remains a free agent after the Giants released him on Nov. 4.
20. Blayne Enlow
2024 Season End: Injured (San Francisco Giants organization)
The Giants signed Enlow last offseason after the Twins released him. He only made two starts with Triple-A Sacramento before an undisclosed injury cut his season short.
Enlow allowed seven runs in 7.2 innings over his two starts, but his injury could have led to the poor results on the mound. The Giants released Enlow at the end of the season, making him a minor-league free agent.
21. Steve Hajjar
2024 Season End: Guardians High-A Affiliate
Hajjar was also a part of the trade that landed the Twins Mahle in 2022. While his counterparts Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand reached the majors within a year of the trade, Hajjar has yet to make it past the low minors.
Cleveland’s High-A affiliate had Hajjar in their bullpen all season, and he pitched in 39 ⅔ innings over 30 relief appearances. But Hajjar’s performance on the mound didn’t bode well in 2024. He had a 7.26 ERA with the Lake County Captains and allowed more walks (40) than strikeouts (35).
The Pittsburgh Pirates purchased his rights this December and placed him on their Triple-A roster ahead of the 2025 season.
22. Chris Vallimont
2024 Season End: Indy Ball
Vallimont was one of the few Twins prospects MLB Pipeline experts who changed his ranking from 2021 to 2022. That season, the Baltimore Orioles claimed Vallimont off waivers in May 2022. He began as a free agent last season and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers Triple-A team on May 29.
However, he only spent two months in Triple-A, posting an ERA north of 8.50 in 42 innings (nine starts, one relief appearance). The Dodgers released him on July 26, but Vallimont has kept his career alive through Indy Ball, playing for the York Revolution alongside former Twins prospect Alerick Soularie.
23. Keoni Cavaco
2024 Season End: Astros Organization
Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2019 never clicked as the hitter scouts projected him to be in high school. Following a release from the organization in late June, Cavaco signed with the Astros to rejuvenate his career as a pitcher rather than an outfielder.
Cavaco didn’t pitch in live games in 2024 and remained at the Astros complex in West Palm Beach. Depending on how they used him in Spring Training, he will likely begin to throw in live games in the low minors to start 2025.
24. Jovani Morán
2024 Season End: Injured, Tommy John Surgery
Morán never got to pitch with the Twins last year because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. He wouldn’t know it, but his last pitch with the Twins org came on August 5, 2023, against the Diamondbacks, where he threw a scoreless inning and allowed three walks.
On Christmas Eve, the Twins traded Morán to the Boston Red Sox for catcher and infielder Mickey Gasper. Morán will likely start his 2025 season rehabbing at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers and eventually try to return to the majors with better command of the strike zone.
25. Alerick Soularie
2024 Season End: Indy Ball
Soularie was Minnesota’s second-round draft pick in the 2020 draft and fell from being the Twins 17th best prospect to 25 after his 2021 season. He slowly made his way up the system and started the 2024 season with Double-A Wichita.
However, the Twins cut him on May 24 after 33 games with only a .164/.314..284 triple-slash with only two home runs and 10 RBI. The Giants picked Soularie up a few days later, but his time with San Francisco was short-lived. He only hit .211/.256/.338 in 24 Double-A games.
Soularie found a home with the Atlantic League’s York Revolution and rejuvenated his career in 31 games. He mashed six home runs, 30 RBI, and a .305/.365/.600 triple slash. His resurgence in Indy Ball may allow him to continue his career in 2025.
26. Marco Raya
2024 Season End: Triple-A St. Paul
Raya made his pro debut in the Twins organization in 2022 after sitting out all of 2021 due to injury. He spent 2022 in Low-A Fort Myers, where he made 17 starts and posted a 3.05 ERA. However, he was limited to 65 innings because the Twins were cautious with the then 19-year-old’s development.
Last year, Raya pitched a career-high 97 ⅔ innings and earned his way to Triple-A St. Paul to finish the season. The Twins added him to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. If all goes well for him, he could earn his MLB debut sometime in 2025.
27. Cade Povich
2024 Season End: Baltimore Orioles Active Roster
Povich was Minnesota’s third-round pick in the 2021. However, he only spent a year in the organization before they packaged him with Yennier Cano and sent him to the Baltimore Orioles for Jorgé López on August 2, 2022.
Povich’s numbers didn’t flash off the back of his baseball card as he went up through Double-A and Triple-A the last two seasons. However, he did enough to make his MLB Debut on June 6, 2024. Povich had a 5.20 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 79 ⅔ innings across 16 starts as a rookie with the Orioles.
He must improve upon his rookie campaign in 2025 because he’ll be one of four starters in the Orioles camp fighting for the final spot in the rotation on the O’s Opening Day roster.
28. Danny De Andrade
2024 Season End: High-A Injured List
The 20-year-old shortstop from Venezuela moved up a couple of spots from the bottom 30, where he ranked in 2021. He had a promising start to his 2024 season at High-A Cedar Rapids. Through 29 games, De Andrade hit .243/.333/.359 with a couple of homers and 19 RBI.
But on May 15, De Andrade exited the Kernels game early with a severely sprained left ankle. The sprain kept him on the injured list for the rest of the season. De Andrade will turn 21 on April 10 and likely begin his 2025 season in Cedar Rapids again, hoping to rebuild his performance at the plate and on the field.
29. Christian Encarnacion-Strand
2024 Season End: Injured, Reds Organization
The final third of who the Twins sent to the Reds for Mahle, Encarnacion-Strand debuted in the second half of the 2023 season and set the National League on fire.
His hot bat to start his career kept him in the lineup nearly every day from his debut to the end of the 2023 season. He finished the year with a .270/.328/.477 triple slash, 13 home runs, 37 RBI, and a .346 wOBA in 241 plate appearances.
However, Encarnacion-Strand had a challenging 2024. He was on the injured list from May 8 until the end of the year with a right ulnar styloid fracture in his wrist. In the 29 games before he injured his wrist, Encarnacion-Strand had a .190/.220/.293 triple slash hit only two home runs, 16 RBI, and a .223 wOBA.
Encarnacion-Strand was going to be Cincinnati’s everyday first baseman last year. However, he will compete for the starting role against Jeimer Candelario and Steer this spring.
30. Jermaine Palacios
2024 Season End: Mexican League
Palacios had two stints with the Twins in 2022. He played in 30 games, most of which came in September of that year. However, the Tigers claimed Palacios off waivers a week after the season ended and spent part of the 2023 season in their minor league system.
Palacios played in 53 games between the Tigers and Kansas City Royals Triple-A squads that season, never hitting above the Mendoza line for either team. He spent 2024 in the Mexican League, playing for former Twin Roberto Kelly with the Sultanes de Monterrey.
He had a .300/.337/.420 triple slash in 68 games with Monterrey and has played in the Venezuelan Winter League to keep his bat warm. Palacios remains a free agent and won’t be 29 until mid-July, making him an attractable candidate for a Triple-A roster.
2024 Season’s End Totals
On MLB rosters: 8
On MLB/MiLB injured lists: 9
In the minors or other pro ball: 13
Free agents or out of professional baseball: 0
Unlike Wander Javier and Edwar Colina from MLB’s Pipeline’s 2021 Top 30 Twins Prospects, no prospects from the Twins 2022 Top 30 list are completely out of professional baseball. Around half of these former or current Twins prospects are still making their way through the minors, while the others have carved out a role in the majors.
There’s still plenty of time for most of these former or current prospects to regain their health and make an impact in the major leagues. Still, these retrospectives allow us to see how far these prospects have progressed in three years.
