Why Twins Pitching Prospect Ty Langenberg Deserves More Attention

[Tom Froemming]

The Minnesota Twins have shown a knack for turning unheralded college pitchers into either big leaguers or being on the cusp of the majors. The org is so flooded with these type of arms that they’ve overshadowed a name in the lower minors who is deserving of more recognition.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Ty Langenberg)

Ty Langenberg had a solid first full professional season in 2024 that could be a building block for bigger things. The Twins drafted him out of Iowa in the 11th round of the 2023 Draft. A lot of outlets and evaluators tend to look passed anyone taken that late, but Twins fans know better. Sure, Langenberg was an unheralded Day 3 pick, but he was taken a round earlier than Bailey Ober was drafted back in 2017 and two rounds earlier than David Festa in 2021. We've seen this movie.

Given the Twins success with late-round college arms, it wasn’t difficult to imagine Langenberg being the next name to emerge. He just needed a shift in momentum.

Langenberg didn’t have a great 2023, as his numbers at Iowa took a step back compared to the year prior and he struggled in the three minor league games after signing with the Twins. While he managed to eventually turn the tide in 2024, it took some time. Langenberg had a 5.75 ERA through his first four starts of last season, but just when it looked like there was little reason to pay him any attention, things clicked. He dominated his next five starts, prompting a promotion to Cedar Rapids.

Langenberg’s overall performance on the season was more solid than spectacular, but we’re talking solid as a diamond here. He went at least five innings and threw 70 or more pitches basically every time out. That may not sound all that impressive, but here’s a look at how he stacks up against David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Andrew Morris, Cory Lewis and C.J. Culpepper:

While dependability was Langenberg’s calling card in 2024, he also missed plenty of bats. Some of his stats don’t exactly jump off the page at first glance, but Langenberg was a Twins Daily Minor League All-Star and an honorable mention for the site’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors. Here’s a look at how his first exposure to the Midwest League compares to those other arms who’ve recently come through Cedar Rapids:

This is about as apples to apples a comparison as you could make. All of these stats are from a Kernels pitcher originally drafted out of college in his first full professional season. Langenberg had a better ERA than Matthews, better WHIP than Morris, a higher K% than Festa, lower BB% than Lewis and was better than Culpepper across the board.

So, what’s Langenberg working with? He features a balanced five-pitch mix and his best secondary is probably his changeup, though his slider is also coming along nicely. Here’s a look at some info from a couple of his starts with the Mighty Mussels (Statcast data is not available for Kernels games):

Langenberg tends to pitch backwards, often featuring his slower stuff, but it’s not like he’s a noodle arm. He touches 95 mph with his four-seam fastball, though it sits more like 93 mph. That may not be as eye-popping for a starting pitcher as it used to be, but there’s no reason to seriously ding his prospect stock based on a lack of velocity.

Something Langenberg and Morris have in common is a unique arm slot, they just go about it in completely different ways, with Morris having a high slot and Langenberg’s coming from down lower. With a sidearm action, Langenberg is able to effectively work east-west in the strike zone. The org seems to generally prefer north-south guys, so Langenberg could make for a nice compliment that offers hitters a contrasting look.

I believe Langenberg deserves more attention, but I haven’t exactly rocketed him up even my own rankings quite yet. I currently have Langenberg as the No. 28 prospect in the system, but the only other places I’ve seen him ranked are at No. 37 on Aaron Gleeman’s list at The Athletic and No. 38 on Baseball America’s 10 Twins Prospects To Know Beyond The Top 30 in 2025. I may not be exactly gassing up the Langenberg hype train with my ranking, but he’s a guy I’m comfortable being the outlier on. (For my full 2025 Twins top 50 prospect list, check out the latest issue of We're Gonna Win, my DIY Twins zine.)

Assuming he follows the footsteps of those before him, expect Langenberg to open 2025 back in Cedar Rapids, but the org will likely want to get him up to Wichita before long. If Langenberg has any kind of success there, you’ll be hearing a lot more about him. Double-A is such a proving ground that even guys without big prospect pedigrees tend to garner attention with an impressive performance at that level.

Ty Langenberg has a durable arm, a deep arsenal and is coming off a rock solid 2024. He deserves to be mentioned among the intriguing arms in the Twins pitching pipeline.

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[Karbo]

Haven't really heard much about him before this. Looks like someone to watch to see how he does as he gets bumped up through the system

[Fatbat]

Pencil him into the next wave of guys going to AAA in the pipeline.  His velocity is serviceable and likely able to increase. His K/BB is in line.  No doubt that the coaches and development staff know exactly what he needs to improve to get thru the hitter friendly texas league. 

[ashbury]

I suppose they'll start him at high-A again.  Keep feeding him innings until he proves they shouldn't, i.e. until there are 6 better uses for those innings.

[HerbieFan]

Starting pitcher prospects seem like darts.  The more you have to throw, the more likely you are to hit a bullseye.  If Langenberg profiles similarly to the other guys mentioned here, that's awesome.  The more solid prospects we have, the more likely Twins are to be able to fill out a rotation without having to spend big in FA or trade prospects for the Tyler Mahles of the world.

[jmlease1]

He hasn't really stood out yet, but there are some things to like about him. He's only had one full professional season and did ok in A-ball. He's hunting up Ks, he's keeping the ball in the park, the BB/9 is reasonable...if he can clamp down on the hits he's giving up, he might have something. It'll be interesting to see if he can tick up the velocity a bit more?

He would have gotten more attention 4-5 years ago, when the system was a little thinner on starting pitching prospects, I think? But the Twins propensities for drafting college pitchers seems to be giving them a lot of guys who are potentially viable as they shuffle through the funnel that is the minors. It's so hard to predict pitching development, and there are so many things that can go wrong that having a deep list of guys who are "maybes" does seem to be a smart strategy.

If he's pitching in AA effectively in his 2nd full pro season at age 23, that's a fairly good sign, I think?

[High heat]

His low 3/4 delivery (almost sidearm) with good deception makes me think reliever in the future. Seems like a guys who could focus on 3 pitches but Keep trotting him out as a starter till it doesn’t work.  

[PatPfund]

Good looking prospect, and the type of player that makes watch MiLB so much fun. (Pretty happy to see the Twins.tv package comes with the minor leagues as well, though I did plunk for the full MLB.tv plus Twins package.) Speaking of pitching prospects, it was really fun to see Castellano in a Twins game today (some great stuff on display). Festa also looked great (his stuff is always great, but he was throwing a ton of strikes today, which is his key to another level).

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Being from Iowa and following the Iowa program, I have been high on Langenberg for a while.  His stuff is solid.   As I have mentioned before specifically in the discussions about Brecht in the 2024 draft, is Iowa got a new Pitching coach,  and lets just say he was not very good at his job.   He was recently let go.   Langenberg has above average to solid stuff.  The upside won't be some of the other pitchers we have, but as shown above,  with his stuff he has availability and is willing and able to go longer in pitch counts.  Even at the mlb level,  solid pitchers that can eat innings is a valuable commodity.  In his second full year, I expect another solid jump in his performance.  Velocity will continue to improve,  and he will continue to control the zone well.   I think those early starts last year he was trying to implement some new things and it took a while to click.  The issue I am seeing is will there be a spot for Langenberg on the big league team.  As discussed above, we have a ton of depth on the pitching side right now in the minor leagues.  

[Otaknam]

Thanks for the insight on this guy. It looks like he has a chance to be a back of the rotation starter, maybe even higher if he has a couple of above average pitches. Despite the late season collapse and ownership situation, it’s time to acknowledge that the front office has built a very solid group of potential major league starters, if not aces. Let’s hope a couple of these guys take major steps to solidify the rotation.

[Dman]

I remember those 5 good starts in A ball as I was thinking he had turned the corner but I thought he struggled again at High A.  I had kind of written him off as I wasn't aware of any plus pitches.  He was the best of that class for the lower draft picks last year.  I guess I failed to realize just how well he had done.  Hopefully he follows that Matthews, Morris leap this year and we have another solid arm.

[HrbieFan]

He fits what this organization has been doing the last 5+ years with arms. Draft the body type and spin, fine tune the mechanics over time. These young men have been shown the way by the arms at the big club and know the process works. Absolutely love they are producing quality arms to allow the team to compete. Good times ahead 

[Doctor Wu]

Very good and informative article about a player I knew almost nothing about previously. As others have said, it may be too early to proclaim him a rising star, but the stats from his first full season are promising. Will he stay a starter or turn to relief? Sure it's a cliche, but only time will tell. In any case, another promising prospect to keep an eye on. Thanks for the post!