The Minnesota Twins had gone 25 years without selecting a catcher in the first round of the MLB Draft. In 2001, they took hometown hero Joe Mauer; this year, it’s the Georgia Tech phenom Vahn Lackey.
Vahn Lackey turned 21 on July 7 and wasn’t on most people’s radar as a top-three pick heading into 2026. He had a solid sophomore season in 2025, with a .347/.421/.500 slash line, but didn’t show much power with six home runs and 42 RBI. However, he put it all together this year, when Georgia Tech’s entire offense exploded on its way to a 50-11 season.
Lackey was the standout in the Yellow Jackets lineup, with a .397/.519/.772 slash line, 20 home runs, 78 RBI, and 15 stolen bases, catapulting him into a clear top-three spot in this draft class alongside Roch Cholowsky and Grady Emerson. Add the offensive breakout alongside what many considered the best defensive catching skills in the class, and the Twins couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get Lackey.
“We just think he’s extremely talented,” said Twins Scouting Director Sean Johnson. “Every player has a certain floor or ceiling. A lot of times there are more variance on players than maybe the next player we’re talking about, but I think we just see tremendous upside and impact on our major league team.”
“I think the thing that stood out to me, No. 1, is how athletic he is,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said on Lackey. “He looks like a shortstop catching. I know it’s been highlighted how well he runs and how well he moves. This guy is a really good athlete, and the ability to hit on top of it, I think that’s really important. His athleticism is what stood out right away.”
A year ago, Minnesota’s catching depth in the minor leagues was fairly light. Khadim Diaw was the only standout top 30 prospect in the Twins system, but even he had limited playing time in 2025 due to an injury.
So they went out of their way to add two catching prospects during their firesale last season. They landed Low-A catcher Enrique Jimenez from the Detroit Tigers for Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak. Later, they picked up Eduardo Tait, whom the Philadelphia Phillies packaged with Mick Abel for Jhoan Duran.
Now, the Twins have legitimate catching depth:
- Lackey, a top 3 pick with offensive upside.
- Tait, who was a top-three prospect entering the season.
- Diaw, who has played in 77 games this year and hit .285/.404/.412.
- And Jimenez, who has had his season limited by injuries, still has a solid .232/.400/.402 slash line in just 33 games.
Add all that behind Ryan Jeffers, Victor Caratini, and Alex Jackson at the major-league level, and the Twins will have plenty of time to figure out how they’d like to build out their catching depth behind Lackey for many years to come.
What separates Lackey from his counterparts still in the minors is his defensive prowess at catcher. Diaw still shuffles between catcher and the outfield, Jimenez has played some first base, and Tait has played nearly half of his 77 games this year at DH. One or two of these players will likely end up as the catcher to rotate behind Lackey in the years to come. Still, it’s too far out to know for sure.
Given the development he’s had over the last season at Georgia Tech, Lackey brings incredible excitement to the Twins farm system. He’s the type of player they hope to add to a future core that will soon be led by Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, and Marek Houston.
The combination of defensive upside and an all-around solid hitter is hard to find at catcher. So, they will have a lot to dream on with him potentially being the best catcher the team has had since Mauer’s days behind the plate.
“Those are things we probably woke up every day in the last couple months thinking about him, how much he’ll impact our major league team and organization more than the safety of it all,” said Johnson.
