Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins have a top-end of-the-rotation talent in the making with Connor Prielipp.
Over his first five MLB starts, Prielipp has put up a 2.88 ERA, .169 opponents’ average, 0.96 WHIP, struck out 29 batters, and walked just nine in 25 innings of work. He added to those totals with his first six-inning start of the year Saturday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, his favorite team growing up.
Connor Prielipp allowed only one mistake to Jackson Chourio at the top of the sixth with a slider hanging up in the zone that Chourio was waiting on and sent into Milwaukee’s bullpen for his first home run of 2026. Aside from an Andrew Vaughn two-out single, Prielipp was able to shut down the Brewers lineup in the sixth and finish the night on 86 pitches, the fewest he’s needed in his last three starts.
“I used to be able to go six innings a lot, but with my injuries, it’s been a long time,” Prielipp said after his start Saturday. “It’s really cool to go six innings again.”
“I thought he had the best stuff he’s had all year,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said of Prielipp. I mean, honestly, the execution of the slider, I mean, he left one up to Chourio, it ended up getting hit out. I thought Connor was outstanding. I mean, again, I think it’s the sharpest command and the sharpest stuff he’s had.”
Saturday was only the second time in Prielipp’s pro career that he’s gone a full six innings. The last time was his final start of the 2025 season in Memphis. As great a start as Prielipp has had to his MLB career, the team is still closely examining his workload and pitch count.
“Connor, we’ve talked about this, maybe ad nauseam, just the fact that he’s got maybe a 150-ish innings since he was a high school senior,” said Shelton. “We have to be thoughtful of that.”
In his previous two starts before Saturday, Prielipp threw over 90 pitches in back-to-back outings for the first time in his career. His season high in 2025 also came in the final start out in Memphis on September 19, when he threw 84 pitches to get through six.
Prielipp has thrown at least 82 pitches in each of his outings with Minnesota, which is new territory for him. As cognizant as the Twins are about his innings workload, they’re also doing the same with his pitch count. That’s why they took an opportunity to give him an extra day of rest between starts.
“I think that’s something we’re also going to monitor just because the number of ups is something that’s almost as important as the pitch count,” said Shelton. “Just being able to get up a number of times, it’s why the other day the pitches with Bailey [Ober] were minimized, but the fact you’ve got up the eighth time, get up the ninth time, that’s almost as challenging as the number of pitches thrown. So we will be very thoughtful and cautious about that.”
“We have a pretty good plan set pregame with Pete and Ryan, and we stick to that plan,” said Prielipp. “Getting into the sixth inning and facing the order three times, they definitely make adjustments. It’s something I learn on as the season goes on.”
The Twins have three against the Astros at home and an off-day on Thursday before Prielipp has to make his next start, which is currently scheduled for their three-game series on the road against the Boston Red Sox. If the Twins keep him penciled in for his next scheduled start this upcoming Friday, then he will have another six days of rest.
Considering that most of last season, Connor Prielipp would pitch only once a week in Wichita and St. Paul, having the built-in sixth day for him as he continues to set new career-high marks in pro ball is something the Twins would always love to have. But once they begin their next road trip, they will not have an off-day again until June 8. That means Prielipp may have five days of rest between his next couple of starts following Boston.
“We’re aware of what his volume is, and I think the fact that you’re saying it’s the second time in pro-ball, not in the big leagues, in pro ball that he’s gone six innings,” Shelton said. “It’s impressive because the one thing that Connor has continued to do in his starts is get better.”
