An Incomplete History of Minnesota’s Top Prospects Getting Injured

[Cody Christie]

Emmanuel Rodriguez is hurt again. While it might be a minor injury this time, it continues a disturbing trend for the team’s top prospects that stretches back for decades.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

For years, the Minnesota Twins have prided themselves on developing homegrown talent, but one troubling trend continues to haunt the franchise. The organization’s top prospects continue to get injured. As spring training gets underway, the latest setback belongs to Emmanuel Rodriguez, a consensus top-50 global prospect, who sprained his ankle in the days leading up to camp starting. The injury is expected to sideline him for one to two weeks, but it’s another frustrating hurdle for a player who has struggled to stay on the field. Rodriguez was limited to just 47 games last season due to multiple thumb injuries, and now his 2025 campaign begins with another setback.

Unfortunately, Rodriguez’s situation is hardly unique among the Twins' top prospects. Injury woes have plagued some of the most promising players in the organization, often slowing or even derailing their ascent to the big leagues.

Royce Lewis, the first overall pick in the 2017 draft, was considered one of the best prospects in baseball. However, injuries have defined much of his professional career. Two ACL surgeries robbed him of critical development time, and just as he began to establish himself at the major league level last season, an oblique strain sidelined him again. He’s entering his age-26 season, so there is still hope for him to put it all together, but injuries have impacted his potential development into a superstar player. 

Austin Martin, Twins Daily’s top-ranked prospect in 2022, had a chance to make an impact in 2023 before a UCL sprain sidelined him early in spring training. That injury significantly limited his availability and set back his development in a crucial year. He played 67 games and reached Triple-A, posting a .791 OPS. Expectations were very high for him coming out of Vanderbilt, and last season was his first professional season where he played more than 100 games. When the Twins traded for Martin, they hoped he’d be a centerpiece of their plans, but he’s looking to be a utility, role player.   

Alex Kirilloff was Twins Daily’s number two ranked prospect entering the 2019 season behind Lewis. He looked like a future middle-of-the-order bat but battled persistent wrist and back issues throughout his professional career. He played 249 big-league games and hit .248/.309/.412 (.721) with a 99 OPS+. Those ailments took such a toll that he ultimately decided to retire after last season, a stunning end to what once seemed like a promising career.

And then there’s Byron Buxton, the quintessential example of a supremely-talented player whose career will be forever marked by injuries. Buxton was once considered among baseball's top prospects, but a lengthy list of ailments (including knee, hip, and shoulder issues) has prevented him from reaching his full potential. He’s one of the game’s best players when healthy, but those stretches have been all too fleeting.

The injury trend isn’t just limited to the current crop of prospects. Looking back, the Twins have seen numerous highly-touted players deal with injuries that impacted their careers. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Francisco Liriano, and Jason Kubel all suffered significant injuries in their early years, preventing them from having a smooth, uninterrupted transition to the big leagues. Some, like Mauer and Morneau, went on to have fantastic careers, but the road was far from easy.

As the next wave of Twins prospects prepares to make their mark, the team can only hope for better fortune on the health front. Prospects like Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee have immense potential, but staying on the field will be as critical as their on-field performance. Both missed significant time in 2024. Injuries are a part of baseball, but for the Twins, they have become an unfortunate and all-too-common obstacle for their most talented young players.

Is there anything the Twins can do to keep their top prospects healthy? Whose career was most impacted by injuries? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[gman]

Add in Keaschall with Tommy john, Prielipp with Tommy John +, Canterino and any number of other pitchers with TJ. Every year I keep thinking that this is the year the injury bad luck stops. BUt it just seems to go on.

[SF Twins Fan]

Miguel Sano should be added to the list.

[Cody Christie]

2 minutes ago, SF Twins Fan said:

Miguel Sano should be added to the list.

The list could be seemingly endless. I tried to limit it for the purposes of this article. 

[Karbo]

I wonder how they compare to the rest of the league. I'm sure they all have some problems, but the Twins seem to be snakebit lately anyways.

[Fatbat]

Miranda hasnt been much of an iron man. Injuries are part of the game and it sucks.  Liriano and AK have been game ending tho. 

 

[Fezig]

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I have a hunch that Kirilloff will bake a comeback attempt after a year off. 

[LambchoP]

I'm not sure what it is. Is our medical team lacking in it's injury prevention practices? Do we just tend to draft and aquire injury prone guys? Is it all just bad luck year after year? I don't know how our prospect injuries compare to other teams, but it sure seems like one or two major injuries is a hurdle each and every one of our guys will have to go through at some point just to make the team. Hopefully Rodriguez can get healthy ASAP and start tearing up AAA pitching along with Keaschal and Eeles. I think all three of those guys has a chance at a mid to late season call up if they're hitting well enough 

[arby58]

The thing that is missing here is context - is it really all that different for the Twins than other franchises? I recall a couple years ago when the Yankees, of all teams, were ravaged by injuries and ended up at the bottom of their division. For that matter, the Dodgers have had a string of high end players miss significant time - the difference being they can just spend a couple hundred million dollars on replacements. 

I remember last year being amazed at the number of Dodgers pitchers that missed all or most of the season: River Ryan, Emmett Sheehan, Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw, Brusdor Graterol, Tony Gonsolin, Conner Brodgon, Ryan Brasier - plus Walker Buehler closely managed after coming back from his second Tommy John surgery. These are almost all solid MLB players (some stars), and it makes the Twins pitching injury situation last year look not nearly as bad as we think it was.

[gman]

1 hour ago, Fezig said:

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I have a hunch that Kirilloff will bake a comeback attempt after a year off. 

I've thought the same thing. It probably won't be with Minnesota. I would bet on Pittsburgh though.

[AKTwinsFan]

With so many games and physical requirements it's hard to stay on field. Just running bases is a hazard because of the bases themselves causing ankle injuries. 

[KnoblauchWasFramed]

You never want to be a team that drafts poorly.  And you never want to be a team that has a horrible medical staff that constantly misses and/or misdiagnosis and/or improperly treats injuries, 

Amazingly, the Twins have consistently been a team that does both epically at the same time.  

[arby58]

32 minutes ago, KnoblauchWasFramed said:

You never want to be a team that drafts poorly.  And you never want to be a team that has a horrible medical staff that constantly misses and/or misdiagnosis and/or improperly treats injuries, 

Amazingly, the Twins have consistently been a team that does both epically at the same time.  

I'm amazed at those who think the Twins draft poorly. They consistently rank in the upper half of MLB farm systems, and that starts with drafting. I also think those of us who fixate on Twins injuries simply do not do the same with other teams. 

Using stats, the Twins were 11th of 30 MLB teams last year in games lost due to injury. 2023 they were 13th, 2022 they were 12th, 2021 they were 20th. Doesn't exactly support the rhetoric.

[ashbury]

5 hours ago, gman said:

I've thought the same thing. It probably won't be with Minnesota. I would bet on Pittsburgh though.

I'm not sure someone with Kirilloff's accumulated service time can take a year or two off, and then decide, "huh, ya know what, I think I'd like to play for some other team from now on."

[Dantes929]

This list doesn't even touch on the pitchers that have shoulder or elbow surgery.    I have often said that once the Twins draft or trade for a top ranked pitcher they should just get him in for TJ surgery the next day because having them excel for a year in the minors only to develop problems, spend a year doing rehab and then ultimately getting surgery anyway was just getting too predictable.