Twins Daily’s Top 20 Minnesota Twins Prospects: Nos. 15-11

[Tom Froemming]

Our journey through the Minnesota Twins' top prospects continues with Nos. 11-15. This group features a pair of 2024 draftees, followed by a trio of prospects who’ve been holding steady in this range.

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Before we take a look at this block of prospects, make sure you check out the list of guys who just missed the top 20, as well as the Nos. 16-20 prospects.

15. Dasan Hill, LHP
What’s the catch? That’s the question I kept asking myself when first getting acquainted with Hill. A 6-foot-5 lefty, Hill has a fastball that has consistently hit 97 mph; his slider is seen as an above-average offering that can be relied upon to get whiffs; and he has a quality curveball and feel for a changeup.

This profile seems almost too good to be true for the part of the draft where the Twins got him. I don’t want to paint it as if he was someone they completely unearthed without having to make an investment (like a bunch of the other top arms in the system), but it seems like there’s excess upside. Hill was selected in the second round this year, No. 69 overall, and was paid a bonus that approached $2 million. 

So, what really is the catch? Well, Hill is still only 18 years old, and is listed at 165 pounds. He has a long way to go and a lot of gains to make. In terms of a physical comp, it’s easy to look toward current Twin David Festa, the "Slim Reaper". If Hill is this big and wiry at 18, might he be able to at least fill out to a similar frame as the 6-foot-6, 185-pound Festa? It’s far from a slam dunk, but with how difficult it can be to build a pitching staff, I love seeing the Twins prioritize a potentially high-reward arm over some of the safer investments that were available. Sometimes you have to take a chance.

This is an exciting arm, added to a pitching pipeline that’s finally producing major-league talent. Hill pitched for Grapevine High School in Texas and was committed to Dallas Baptist prior to being drafted. He has yet to make his pro debut, but the sheer stuff and the physicality make full-season ball a plausible first assignment for him.

14. Kyle DeBarge, 2B/SS
DeBarge had a massive power breakout prior to being drafted. If that’s real, this ranking is going to look low before long. If it’s a mirage, this ranking is going to look high before long. DeBarge hit 10 home runs over his first 510 plate appearances at Louisiana-Lafayette, but exploded for 21 homers in just 290 PAs there last season.

His stature alone is also enough to call his power potential into question. He’s listed at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds. Then there’s the discouraging early returns from his brief time in Fort Myers (only one home run in 115 PAs), but it was a small sample in a tough environment for power hitting.

Taken in the first round (33rd overall) of this year’s draft, it’s not as if DeBarge’s value is completely tied to power. He brings plus contact skills, solid on-base ability, value added on the bases and reliable glovework that establishes his floor. He’s a ballplayer. The big question on defense, similar to most college shortstops, is where will DeBarge end up on the diamond? With Fort Myers, he logged more innings at second base than shortstop, but that was largely due to the org prioritizing getting first-round pick Kaelen Culpepper reps at the position.

The Twins have had a lot of success with this type of profile. Think guys like Brian Dozier or Spencer Steer. Yes, I know Steer was traded, but they still get credit for drafting him and doing most of the development. Luke Keaschall is another one of these types, though he hasn’t fully climbed the ladder yet.

Will the Twins strike gold again? We should have a much better idea a year from now. DeBarge hit .235/.322/.343 with a 24.3 K% and 10.4 BB% in 26 games for the Mighty Mussels, but that's only a problem if he stays at a similar level once he has his legs under him.

13. Kala’i Rosario, RF
Rosario’s strengths are tantalizing, but the weaknesses are terrifying. This is a player with impressive offensive gifts that he continues to hone. There’s also a lot of swing-and-miss, though, and he’s one of the worst defensive outfielders I’ve seen come through the Twins system.

After a 2023 season in which Rosario was named Midwest League MVP and won the Arizona Fall League home run derby, it might be easy to view 2024 as a step back. He missed a good chunk of time due to an elbow injury, which stings, but there were some positives from when he was on the field.

While many of Rosario’s 2023 Midwest League champion teammates fell flat on their faces making the big leap up to Double-A, he held his own. This was Rosario’s age-21 season, and 93% of his plate appearances were against pitchers older (and you’d figure more developed) than him. Despite those challenges, he slugged comfortably above the average in the Texas League (Rosario had a .405 slugging percentage with Wichita; the league average was .374).

With the jump to Double-A came a small increase in strikeouts (0.8% increase) and a more significant dip in walks (3.5% decrease). And while the power was solid, it’s not like Rosario’s overall line of .235/.321/.405 really jumps off the page.

In the field, Rosario struggles to track balls and make adjustments. To be fair, it seems he did take steps forward in 2024, and the Twins managed to help Matt Wallner overcome similar issues along his journey to the majors. Rosario will likely never be a plus defender, but there’s hope some of these rough edges may be smoothed out. And there’s no questioning the arm. He has a cannon.

Rosario comes in at No. 13 in our rankings after being placed in the No. 12 spot on last offseason’s list. That seems fitting, as there isn’t much that happened in 2024 to really change his prospect stock one way or the other.

12. Connor Prielipp, LHP
If you had a crystal ball and could tell me that Prielipp will be healthy going forward, he’d be my No. 1 pitching prospect in the system. Seriously. As things stand, the injury risk is enough to sink his prospect status, at least this far. This is a special arm. It comes with a suspect elbow. 

Prielipp is clearly miles ahead of low-minors hitters. He has a mid-90s fastball, a slider that’s routinely over 3,000 RPMs of spin and a changeup that doesn’t seem like it’s trailing much behind those two excellent offerings. It’s a big-league arsenal.

In addition to having Tommy John surgery back in 2021, Prielipp has had several other shutdown periods due to elbow soreness and had an internal brace surgery prior to the 2024 season. The possibility this elbow is a ticking time bomb is enough to cloud his future and deflate his prospect stock.

One X-factor for Prielipp is he’s finally having a healthy offseason. Don’t expect that to mean he’ll be active to start the 2025 season. Coming off just 23 1/3 innings, they’ll look for ways to avoid a significant jump in workload, such as having him stay behind at the complex for a bit. Still, the hope would be that he'd head out to an affiliate fairly early.

Prielipp pitched to a 3.86 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in his brief stint last year, while only surrendering 14 hits, all but one of them singles. Opponents hit .173/.256/.185 against him. He also missed an abundance of bats, striking out 45% of the batters he faced, a rate of 15.8 K/9.

On the downside, Prielipp only made nine starts, seven for Cedar Rapids. He threw 23 1/3 innings, with his longest start being just three frames. The most pitches he threw in any outing was 49. Prielipp climbs up a handful of spots from last offseason’s list, where he was No. 17.

11. C.J. Culpepper, RHP
Culpepper had an up-and-down year, but his strong finish helps paint a positive outlook for 2025. After hitting a bit of a speed bump in High-A the prior year, Culpepper passed the test in 2024. A forearm strain halted his momentum in early June, but thankfully, that injury wasn’t a precursor to anything more serious.

After two months of recovery, Culpepper was back with the Kernels. Three outings later, he was promoted up to Wichita to make his Double-A debut. The early returns weren’t great, but he was also still working on getting stretched back out. In September, Culpepper put an exclamation point at the end of his season. In 13 innings with the Wild Surge, he struck out 14 batters while issuing one walk. He gave up just a pair of runs on eight hits. He pounded the zone, throwing 69% of his pitches for strikes, and missed bats at a 15% swinging strike rate.

What makes Culpepper special is his deep arsenal. I’ve lost count of how many pitches he throws. It’s at least six for sure, and maybe seven. He’s able to look like a completely different pitcher versus lefties than against righties, and can shapeshift as an outing progresses to flash different offerings he protected the first time through. 

It feels like Culpepper is still feeling out who he is and how best to deploy that deep arsenal. He only threw 58 1/3 innings this season, but the 3.55 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 9.9 K/9 he posted is plenty impressive enough to maintain belief. He has a chance to be a big-league starter despite being a former Day 3 pick in the draft. What Sean Johnson and his team have done late in drafts, particularly that 2022 class, is remarkable. Culpepper was the No. 13 prospect in our rankings from last offseason.

Final thoughts:
Culpepper being outside of our top 10 (along with Prilipp and Hill, for that matter) is a great show of how much pitching there is in the pipeline. Not long ago, we as Twins fans basically had one arm this exciting to pin our hopes on. Now, there are about a dozen of them. Will those hopes materialize? Tough to say, but I’m excited to find out.

While the three arms in this grouping are easy to get excited about, the bats are both profiles the Twins have had success with. Maybe DeBarge and Rosario don’t have the upside of the trio of arms here, but are they more likely to realize their potential? It’s certainly possible.

To have prospects this intriguing sitting outside of a top-10 list is a big flex for the system. This depth is part of why the Twins shot up minor league organizational talent rankings after the draft.

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[DJL44]

If you think of ranking prospects in terms of "I would trade this guy for that guy" then Dasan Hill should he higher. I would trade Rosario or DeBarge for another Dasan Hill in a heartbeat.

[FlyingFinn]

Rosario is a terrible fielder and the Twins sure don't need more of those. To me, he is a great trade candidate for a team that salivates over his bat.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Echoing some of the others here; I have a hard time having Rosario this high in the rankings. 

[jmlease1]

DeBarge is going to be an interesting one to watch. He wasn't great in his first taste of pro ball, but the FSL isn't the easiest place to get things going, either. We'll see whether his power burst in college (he showed substantial improvement as a sophomore and again as a junior) is too tied into aluminum bats or if he can get it done as a pro. I suspect the twins saw something they liked in his swing, so hopefully they can refine and improve it, and with more advanced training and coaching they can get him on track. not sure about him, but it's not a bad placement on the prospect list.

Prielipp is so hard to evaluate. he's clearly got massive amounts of talent...and an elbow that scares the crap out of me. I'm not opposed to keeping him to short starts while advancing him up another level, and looking at him as a bullpen option sooner rather than later. because oh my he could be dominant. But seems hard to believe that he can hold up under a starter's workload. 

I know I like Rosario more than I should. He's not a good enough OF, he Ks too much, there's real concerns that he won't make enough contact...but he hammers LHP and he's still pretty young. Still a fan. Like him starting in AA, mashing the snot out of pitchers and then being in Saint Paul in July.

[DJL44]

12 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Echoing some of the others here; I have a hard time having Rosario this high in the rankings. 

I agree, he's stalled out. For prospects it's improve or go home and he's not getting better very quickly. I don't see a reason to add him to the 40-man roster to protect him because I don't see a team wanting to play with a 25-man roster for an entire season.

[Tom Froemming]

25 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

If you think of ranking prospects in terms of "I would trade this guy for that guy" then Dasan Hill should he higher. I would trade Rosario or DeBarge for another Dasan Hill in a heartbeat.

My personal rankings (which did factor into this list) agree with you wholeheartedly. I have Hill 11, Rosario 18, DeBarge 21. That being said, it does feel like this full staff list at the site balances floor vs. upside better than my own, to be honest. Sorta a best of both worlds situation.

[Brett]

Is it OK to dream about Prielipp and Canterino in the Twins bullpen in ‘26? That would be cool.

[thelanges5]

36 minutes ago, Brett said:

Is it OK to dream about Prielipp and Canterino in the Twins bullpen in ‘26? That would be cool.

I’d like to see them be heathy enough to get there. It’s a great dream!

[HerbieFan]

To me, the Prielipp pick has always seemed like Falvey trying to outsmart everyone.  I get that he was a first-round talent that they got later, but I'd still just rather take a still talented player that was actually healthy.

Sort of like I'd rather see Falvey just get pitchers that are actually healthy instead of hoping to find value in arms depreciated in value b/c they've been hurt.

[DocBauer]

HILL: The draft had a bunch of really interesting HS arms this year and it was great to see the Twins dive in. HS arms are the most volatile prospects you can have, but might have the biggest payoff if you get it right. Hill has a lanky frame, but there's enough OF IT to hope you can carry another 25lbs or so of good man muscle as he matures. That keeps his velocity in the high 90's, even if he doesn't add, which he probably will. With the reports he's already got a good feel for his secondary offerings, he's awfully exciting. I expect him to be used much like Soto this season, despite being different physical types.

DeBARGE: I don't have a problem with this spot, not sure a couple spots lower really makes a difference. Coming off a full college season, moving to wood bats, begining in the hard to hit FSL, I'm not worried about his disappointing debut. Power isn't all about size. It's also about good contact and a quick swing. IDK if he's really got the kind of power he showed his last college season or not, but he doesn't need that kind of pop to be a good prospect if the rest of what we hear about him is accurate: disciple, solid eye, contact, bat to ball ability, athletic, fast, good hands, decent arm. But he does need to prove he really CAN hit in 2025 in order to stay ranked this high.

ROSARIO: I'm also a little higher on Rosario than some, but I might have him a couple spots lower. But why quibble? He's shown solid year to year progress his first 3 years and a good AFL after last offseason. He was only 20yo while winning league MVP in 2023 and the HR title in the AFL. He wasn't bad at Wichita as a 21yo this season, just not great. If he was healthy all year I wonder if others would like him more? I like the good arm. I've never heard he's slow. So I have some faith his defense can be worked on and developed. He's still young and made steady progress up to this point. Not sure he's a full time starter or not at this point.

PRIELIPP: At 24yo I still don't see him being moved to the pen yet. The potential of him as a SP is too great to give up on yet. He's going to be on an IP limit this season and slowly stretched out, but I wouldn't move him to the pen yet, no matter how tempting. If scouts, coaches, and the training staff all believe he's best off throwing more often but fewer innings, OK, move him and let's get him up ASAP. I just don't want to give up on him in the rotation too soon.

CULPEPPER: Normally, when you hear a pitcher has that many offerings, you have to wonder how many are really good, and does he drop some eventually. But it kind of sounds like he throws all of them reasonably well. Of all the 2022 pitchers drafted, he was one of the youngest, with some of the least amount of IP. So he's not close to a finished product yet and already flashing at AA, just turned 23yo, and only going in to his #3 season. I will be disappointed if he isn't in AAA before next season is over.

 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

4 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Echoing some of the others here; I have a hard time having Rosario this high in the rankings. 

Don't you think he's being showcased in the Arizona Fall League in hopes that some team is impressed by his hitting?  I do.  IF there is a trade that involves prospects, I would be that he would be one of the guys moved. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Don't you think he's being showcased in the Arizona Fall League in hopes that some team is impressed by his hitting?  I do.  IF there is a trade that involves prospects, I would be that he would be one of the guys moved. 

I can see that too for sure

[ryan189]

cullpepper sounds a lot like adams but gets a lot more attention very interesting to figure out why.

[Fatbat]

2 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I can see that too for sure

Definitely a possibility, he is also gonna get a quick shot at being an MLB RH COF with us if our price is too high for him. 
All 5 of these prospects with get at least their 15 min in MLB

[Tom Froemming]

2 hours ago, ryan189 said:

cullpepper sounds a lot like adams but gets a lot more attention very interesting to figure out why.

More whiffs, fewer walks, more grounders, ball stays in the yard, better stuff.

Edit: And more hair.

[mikelink45]

I see four of these players in trades.  I do not see more than one making it with the team.  Injuries are not predictable until they become a constant for any one individual.  I think that five tools now has to include staying healthy.  

[jmlease1]

17 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

To me, the Prielipp pick has always seemed like Falvey trying to outsmart everyone.  I get that he was a first-round talent that they got later, but I'd still just rather take a still talented player that was actually healthy.

Sort of like I'd rather see Falvey just get pitchers that are actually healthy instead of hoping to find value in arms depreciated in value b/c they've been hurt.

Should we never take a risk on talent vs health? Our prospects who have had all these injury issues, outside of Prielipp only Lee had any injury concerns at the time they were drafted. Canterino, Kirilloff, Lewis, Buxton...none of these guys had injury issues when drafted. They took a shot on a prospect with a high ceiling and a big injury risk. But it's not like they're doing that with lots of picks in every draft. It's been pretty restrained.

They've taken some risks on pitchers with injury concerns in MLB, but that's been more a function of payroll than anything else. Sometimes it's worked (Maeda mostly, Gray) and sometimes it's flopped (Mahle, Paddack mostly, Desclafani) but financial concerns were part of the package on all of these guys.

[High heat]

I like the high upside LHP.

 

Rosario is very interesting, the Ks and lack of serviceable defense is scary.  But a big arm and power from the right side can be useful.

Hope he is in Saint Paul quickly would like to be able to get a better look before passing to much judgement.

[LambchoP]

Rosario could end up being a great hitter. With his poor defense and super high K rate, I think we should try to trade him. Our other OF of the future Rodriguez also has strikeout issues. Between him and Wallner, I'm not sure we can handle Rosario being another high K guy in our OF. Trade him for pitching. As for Prelipp, I think him and Canterino, if finally healthy, could be major late game weapons as relief pitchers. Add one or both of them to the guys we already have and our pen starts to look like one of the best in the league:)

[Mike Sixel]

20 hours ago, DocBauer said:

HILL: The draft had a bunch of really interesting HS arms this year and it was great to see the Twins dive in. HS arms are the most volatile prospects you can have, but might have the biggest payoff if you get it right. Hill has a lanky frame, but there's enough OF IT to hope you can carry another 25lbs or so of good man muscle as he matures. That keeps his velocity in the high 90's, even if he doesn't add, which he probably will. With the reports he's already got a good feel for his secondary offerings, he's awfully exciting. I expect him to be used much like Soto this season, despite being different physical types.

DeBARGE: I don't have a problem with this spot, not sure a couple spots lower really makes a difference. Coming off a full college season, moving to wood bats, begining in the hard to hit FSL, I'm not worried about his disappointing debut. Power isn't all about size. It's also about good contact and a quick swing. IDK if he's really got the kind of power he showed his last college season or not, but he doesn't need that kind of pop to be a good prospect if the rest of what we hear about him is accurate: disciple, solid eye, contact, bat to ball ability, athletic, fast, good hands, decent arm. But he does need to prove he really CAN hit in 2025 in order to stay ranked this high.

ROSARIO: I'm also a little higher on Rosario than some, but I might have him a couple spots lower. But why quibble? He's shown solid year to year progress his first 3 years and a good AFL after last offseason. He was only 20yo while winning league MVP in 2023 and the HR title in the AFL. He wasn't bad at Wichita as a 21yo this season, just not great. If he was healthy all year I wonder if others would like him more? I like the good arm. I've never heard he's slow. So I have some faith his defense can be worked on and developed. He's still young and made steady progress up to this point. Not sure he's a full time starter or not at this point.

PRIELIPP: At 24yo I still don't see him being moved to the pen yet. The potential of him as a SP is too great to give up on yet. He's going to be on an IP limit this season and slowly stretched out, but I wouldn't move him to the pen yet, no matter how tempting. If scouts, coaches, and the training staff all believe he's best off throwing more often but fewer innings, OK, move him and let's get him up ASAP. I just don't want to give up on him in the rotation too soon.

CULPEPPER: Normally, when you hear a pitcher has that many offerings, you have to wonder how many are really good, and does he drop some eventually. But it kind of sounds like he throws all of them reasonably well. Of all the 2022 pitchers drafted, he was one of the youngest, with some of the least amount of IP. So he's not close to a finished product yet and already flashing at AA, just turned 23yo, and only going in to his #3 season. I will be disappointed if he isn't in AAA before next season is over.

 

He can be in the pen this year and stretched out next year. He's been injured forever. Get value while you can. 

[ryan189]

17 hours ago, Tom Froemming said:

More whiffs, fewer walks, more grounders, ball stays in the yard, better stuff.

Edit: And more hair.

adams has a better walk rate  and ks at the low levels don't mean much and the rate is close once cullpepper got to AA hr jumped up and ks dropped . I'll give you the hair but for one to be 10th and the other not ranked seems odd and staying on the field would seem important.

[Tom Froemming]

2 hours ago, ryan189 said:

adams has a better walk rate  and ks at the low levels don't mean much and the rate is close once cullpepper got to AA hr jumped up and ks dropped . I'll give you the hair but for one to be 10th and the other not ranked seems odd and staying on the field would seem important.

Adams is also two years older than Culpepper, about to turn 25. He was very good in Double-A last year, but if we zoom out to look at his overall body of work there, including 2023, it's not great. He definitely gets overlooked, and maybe he's flying too far under the radar, but I don't think you'll see anywhere have him flirting with the top-20 in the system, let alone the top-10.

[gman]

On 11/13/2024 at 12:14 PM, Brett said:

Is it OK to dream about Prielipp and Canterino in the Twins bullpen in ‘26? That would be cool.

I'd like to see them this year.

[gman]

On 11/14/2024 at 6:04 AM, mikelink45 said:

I see four of these players in trades.  I do not see more than one making it with the team.  Injuries are not predictable until they become a constant for any one individual.  I think that five tools now has to include staying healthy.  

Maybe a 6 tool player? Must evolve with the times.

[twinstalker]

Rosario has no business in the top 20, and I doubt DeBarge does, either. I'd rather have MacLeod in there.  If Amick is in the top 10, then we know this is messed up.  I'm praying this is not the case...such that the top 20 stats we get each day are for someone who can't hit high A.

Jenkins, Zebby, Keaschall, EmRod, Morris, Lewis, Eeles, Soto, Pena, Gonzalez  there's 10, so Raya and Amick hopefully didn't make the list.  But again, get rid of Schobel and feel free to put Raya in his place (after moving DeAndrade to 11 and moving others down).