Brandon Winokur: The Twins’ Five-Tool Prospect Set to Shine in 2025

[Cody Christie]

Every organization attempts to find the next prospect that can be a five-tool talent. The Twins might have one prospect who is set to show off his tools in 2025.

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (photo of Brandon Winokur)

Brandon Winokur ’s talent is undeniable, and the 2025 season is shaping up to be one where he can showcase his five-tool talent. The third-round pick in 2023 received an over-slot bonus ($1.5 million) to keep him from his college commitment and has quickly become one of the organization’s most intriguing prospects. With his massive 6-foot-6 frame and a skill set that spans all five tools, Winokur has the potential to be a cornerstone for the Twins’ future.

Flashes of his five-tool talent have marked Winokur’s early professional career. Drafted as a shortstop, he has spent his time playing shortstop, third base, and center field in the minors. Given his size and athletic profile, many scouts believe that a transition to center field could be on the horizon. His arm and speed make him viable at multiple positions. The Twins will keep him at shortstop as long as possible, but his unique physical tools make him a viable candidate for a move to center.

The Offensive Arsenal: Swing, Miss, and Everything In Between
Offensively, Winokur has the tools to be a potential All-Star, but he needs to improve on some parts of his game as he climbs the organizational ladder. His first full season in the largely pitching-friendly Florida State League was a telling display of his raw potential. Finishing third in OPS, and ranking in the top ten in both home runs (14) and wRC+ (116), he provided a glimpse of what could be an electrifying bat for the Twins. 

One area of improvement that has been repeatedly highlighted is his ability to pick up breaking pitches. Although he has improved his strikeout rate compared to his pro debut (-4.4 K%), his 115 to 34 K/BB ratio in 2024 indicates that there’s still a tendency to chase pitches outside the zone. This isn’t entirely surprising given his power tool because swinging for the fences sometimes leads to chasing pitches. The Twins know that Winokur could significantly boost his offensive consistency with more refined plate discipline.

What truly stands out about Winokur is his rare combination of skills. MLB Pipeline has touted him as potentially the “best overall athlete” in the Twins’ system. That’s high praise in an organization that includes two of baseball’s top overall prospects, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez . His power is one of the best in the organization, but it’s not just about the long ball. Winokur is a bona fide five-tool talent. He can hit for power and average, run the bases aggressively, field at a high level, and throw with a rocket arm. This blend of skills makes him not only exciting to watch but also a versatile asset who can be molded into a player that fits a variety of roles in a major league lineup.

The Road Ahead in 2025
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, many fans will focus on players in the upper levels of the minors because the Twins have big names that are close to debuting. However, Winokur has the chance for a special season where he can take significant steps toward becoming a top-100 prospect. He should spend the majority of the season at High-A with the potential to move to Double-A in the season’s second half. He turned 20 in December, which could put him on a path to debut as early as 2026, with 2027 being a safer bet. 

His offensive profile should only improve as he continues to refine his approach at the plate, particularly in recognizing and handling breaking balls. For those who have seen him in action, it’s clear that his natural power is something to behold, and the occasional swing and miss is a small price to pay for what could be an elite bat in the future. His ability to drive the ball with authority will be crucial to his game as he matures.

Defensively, deciding whether to keep him at shortstop or transition him to center field could be one of the more interesting storylines of the upcoming season. Each option presents its own set of challenges and rewards. Staying at shortstop might allow him to continue building on his current experience, but his size and speed could be a huge asset in center. He will likely get time at both positions, and some of his playing time will depend on what other players are on the Cedar Rapids roster to start the season.

Ultimately, Winokur embodies the prospect type that brings energy and excitement to an organization. With a blend of raw talent, physical prowess, and an already impressive set of tools, he’s a player who could make a significant impact if given the right opportunities. The 2025 season is an opportunity for him to establish himself as one of the game’s best prospects. His five-tool talent is something for fans to be excited about, and the 2025 season might be his time to shine.

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How do you view Winokur entering the 2025 season? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

 

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[LambchoP]

He could be a real exciting player. Maybe Correa's heir apparent at shortstop. Now they just need to find a way to keep him healthy and on the field, which they haven't been able to do with all of our other top prospects.

[rdehring]

Thanks, Cody.

Was surprised at how many innings he got in games this spring with the Twins.  Sure seems that the Twins believe he is a special prospect.

The Twins need some, heck a lot of good news.  Would be nice if he has a fantastic 2025 and breaks in with the Twins as a 21 year old in 2026.  As for where he plays, short or center, opportunities will likely arrive considering the health of the Twins starters at both spots.  Hopefully, his play defensively in 2025 will make it clear which is best for him and the team.

[Fatbat]

He has everything the Twins love. Even the swing and miss.  Wether he plays at CF or SS shouldn’t matter much at 20 yo but where he is at 22 yo if he is a splashy rookie prospect following Jenkins to AAA matters. 
SS makes sense now cause he can  always move spots or C4 may need to make the move off SS in ‘27.  Anyway, develop his bat to ball skills so there is less swing and miss. 

[Doctor Gast]

Looking towards the future, the Twins have CF sewn up with Buxton, Emma, & Jenkins. So we'll have to look at our other premium positions. Catching is very questionable & SS? What will we do when Correa can't play SS? IMO, Lee is not dependable & Twins have drafted a ton of pseudo SSs that won't stick there. Our hope is that Culpepper and/ or Winokur develop into a Correa-type SS where one will stick or both rotate from SS to 3B. 

[mikelink45]

I love the prospects coming up, but I have to remind myself that I was excited by Lee, Lewis, Miranda, Kiriloff, Larnach, Julien too.  I would love to see them rise up force their way on to the team and have the Twins use their extra capital for one or two significant trades. 

[Linus]

I’m a firm believer that all prospects are suspects until they aren’t. Having said that I am as excited about Winokur as any prospect since Buck. To me he is head and shoulders above any other SS in our system and hope they leave him at short. He made a play in spring training where he went way deep in the hole, like way on the outfield grass, smooth backhand pickup and then threw an absolute seed to first.  Correa like velocity. 

[bean5302]

Winokur has a long, long way to go. A 30% K rate and rookie ball and repeating that at A ball last year has him a long shot to even make it above AA, IMHO. I'm sure the Twins enjoyed getting a look at Winokur this spring, and he's a fun prospect to think about just because of how unusual his skill set and physical traits. Lets hope he can learn to get a better feel for the approach at the plate.

Right now, Winokur looks an awful lot like Keoni Cavaco with some good pop to me.

[tony&rodney]

41 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Winokur has a long, long way to go. A 30% K rate and rookie ball and repeating that at A ball last year has him a long shot to even make it above AA, IMHO. I'm sure the Twins enjoyed getting a look at Winokur this spring, and he's a fun prospect to think about just because of how unusual his skill set and physical traits. Lets hope he can learn to get a better feel for the approach at the plate.

Right now, Winokur looks an awful lot like Keoni Cavaco with some good pop to me.

How many times have you seen him play?

[Dman]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

Winokur has a long, long way to go. A 30% K rate and rookie ball and repeating that at A ball last year has him a long shot to even make it above AA, IMHO. I'm sure the Twins enjoyed getting a look at Winokur this spring, and he's a fun prospect to think about just because of how unusual his skill set and physical traits. Lets hope he can learn to get a better feel for the approach at the plate.

Right now, Winokur looks an awful lot like Keoni Cavaco with some good pop to me.

I get where you are coming from with the K rate, but I think your comp is way off.  That is also an incredibly pessimistic view given last year was Winokurs first full season in Pro ball and he did better than many college bats as a teenager. In Cavaco's entire career he never sniffed the .760 OPS that Winokur had in his first full year.  

We all know high K rates can be tough to overcome, but I can think of two players right now who I gave up on at the higher levels with high K rates in, Rooker and Wallner.  Both players have managed high OPS's at the MLB level despite the K concerns.

Putting Winokur in the Cavaco bucket after his first pro year is quite the bold statement and while the sample size is still relatively small I don't see much to back that claim up at this time and the odds of it happening seem very low to me.  A better comp would be McCusker.  They are both tall athletic players with good power and K rate issues that they may or may not overcome but McCusker is already at AAA and Winokur has lot's of time to refine his approach and end up in a better spot than McCusker. If it were me I'd wait at least another year if not two to pronounce Winokur a non prospect.  The ghost of Rooker would say give him even more time than that.

[tony&rodney]

Fair to say that Jenkins is the best prospect in the organization but Winokur may be the best athlete.

We need more than one full season at the minor league level before it is determined whether he can make all adjustments. He made enormous growth from the start of the year to September last year.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

I get where you are coming from with the K rate, but I think your comp is way off.  That is also an incredibly pessimistic view given last year was Winokurs first full season in Pro ball and he did better than many college bats as a teenager. In Cavaco's entire career he never sniffed the .760 OPS that Winokur had in his first full year.  

We all know high K rates can be tough to overcome, but I can think of two players right now who I gave up on at the higher levels with high K rates in, Rooker and Wallner.  Both players have managed high OPS's at the MLB level despite the K concerns.

Putting Winokur in the Cavaco bucket after his first pro year is quite the bold statement and while the sample size is still relatively small I don't see much to back that claim up at this time and the odds of it happening seem very low to me.  A better comp would be McCusker.  They are both tall athletic players with good power and K rate issues that they may or may not overcome but McCusker is already at AAA and Winokur has lot's of time to refine his approach and end up in a better spot than McCusker. If it were me I'd wait at least another year if not two to pronounce Winokur a non prospect.  The ghost of Rooker would say give him even more time than that.

I didn't pronounce Winokur as a non-prospect, but like it or not, he does share some traits with Cavaco so he's as high risk as a prospect can be. Winokur's A ball campaign is arguably more impressive than both Rooker and Wallner because of Winokur's age and how much Winokur needed to adapt to the competition level he was facing.

That said, comparing a high school pick to an SEC and CUSA superstar draft picks is tough because the college superstars from tough divisions have a lot wiggle room as they've got a history of performing against much tougher opponents which can aid in confidence.

[jorgenswest]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Winokur has a long, long way to go. A 30% K rate and rookie ball and repeating that at A ball last year has him a long shot to even make it above AA, IMHO. I'm sure the Twins enjoyed getting a look at Winokur this spring, and he's a fun prospect to think about just because of how unusual his skill set and physical traits. Lets hope he can learn to get a better feel for the approach at the plate.

Right now, Winokur looks an awful lot like Keoni Cavaco with some good pop to me.

It is an easy take to pick any player with those strikeout rates in low A and cast doubt on whether they will get to the majors. You didn’t take the easy take. You comped him to a guy that was absolute failure in High A. In 2023-24 Cavaco had an OPS of .545 as a 1B.

I can make the easy take a cast doubt on whether he will be a regular in the major leagues. I can’t join you in foreseeing an absolute failure to the point that by the middle of next season he will be released having never moved beyond High A.

[twinstalker]

Meh prospect, maybe slightly better than meh, but pretty close.  All you need to know is he struck out 28% of the time.  Some mitigating factors, but to be a truly good prospect, he'd have to be at about 65% that or have Wallner power that adds the extra strikeouts via swinging for the fences.

So I don't know what you're expecting here.  He's good enough to climb, but I wouldn't look at his slashline, which is going to improve just with the ballparks.  The only thing that matters is his K-rate.  He'll likely make it to the bigs at some point, but he won't do it with the promise of a Brooks Lee, who in my book is a decent starting infielder, not top half at whatever position.  Winokur is a rh Stahoviak at best.

[Dman]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I didn't pronounce Winokur as a non-prospect, but like it or not, he does share some traits with Cavaco so he's as high risk as a prospect can be. Winokur's A ball campaign is arguably more impressive than both Rooker and Wallner because of Winokur's age and how much Winokur needed to adapt to the competition level he was facing.

That said, comparing a high school pick to an SEC and CUSA superstar draft picks is tough because the college superstars from tough divisions have a lot wiggle room as they've got a history of performing against much tougher opponents which can aid in confidence.

Agreed you did not say Winokur was a non prospect, but that is why I don't see it as a good comp because ultimately that is what Cavaco was.  

Rooker was 22 coming out of college and old for the class.  It took him a long time to become dominant in the SEC.  That was my point.  Winokur was only 19 last year and won't be 22 for three more professional seasons.  That's a lot of time to get better just like college players do.

The failure rate for prospects is like 90 to 95 percent so the odds are decent betting on Winokur to fail, but it seems way, way to early to compare him to Cavaco.

Winokurs K rate was 28% last year if was say 3 points lower at 25% would that change what you think?  He wasn't that far off what is considered an OK number for a power hitter.  If he walked a tick more and got to a 10% walk rate I'd say he has solid potential.

I agree his hit tool is the weakest tool he has right now and without his hot streak hitting HR's last year his OPS would look worse, but again for year one I think he did really well considering he had so much to work on at the plate. IMO he has three years yet to get to where college drafted guys come in so we should give him more time to grow into his body before getting too critical.

[bean5302]

5 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

It is an easy take to pick any player with those strikeout rates in low A and cast doubt on whether they will get to the majors. You didn’t take the easy take. You comped him to a guy that was absolute failure in High A. In 2023-24 Cavaco had an OPS of .545 as a 1B.

I can make the easy take a cast doubt on whether he will be a regular in the major leagues. I can’t join you in foreseeing an absolute failure to the point that by the middle of next season he will be released having never moved beyond High A.

 

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Agreed you did not say Winokur was a non prospect, but that is why I don't see it as a good comp because ultimately that is what Cavaco was.  

Rooker was 22 coming out of college and old for the class.  It took him a long time to become dominant in the SEC.  That was my point.  Winokur was only 19 last year and won't be 22 for three more professional seasons.  That's a lot of time to get better just like college players do.

The failure rate for prospects is like 90 to 95 percent so the odds are decent betting on Winokur to fail, but it seems way, way to early to compare him to Cavaco.

Winokurs K rate was 28% last year if was say 3 points lower at 25% would that change what you think?  He wasn't that far off what is considered an OK number for a power hitter.  If he walked a tick more and got to a 10% walk rate I'd say he has solid potential.

I agree his hit tool is the weakest tool he has right now and without his hot streak hitting HR's last year his OPS would look worse, but again for year one I think he did really well considering he had so much to work on at the plate. IMO he has three years yet to get to where college drafted guys come in so we should give him more time to grow into his body before getting too critical.

I didn't realize Winokur was the new Walker Jenkins. It's tough when every Twins prospect is the best prospect in baseball around here.

[chpettit19]

14 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

 

I didn't realize Winokur was the new Walker Jenkins. It's tough when every Twins prospect is the best prospect in baseball around here.

There's a difference between being "the best prospect in baseball" and comping him to a kid who was a complete bust from the jump. Cavaco never had a chance. He was lucky to make it out of rookie ball. He's never put up a .700 OPS in any meaningful time at any level while never making it past A+ ball. If you wanted to make that comp after the draft that's one thing, but we've seen him play. That's a ridiculous comp at this point. He's already surpassed anything Cavaco has ever done.

Winokur: a19 wRC+ 116, K% 28.0

James Wood: a19 wRC+ 129, K% 28.0

Oneil Cruz: a18 wRC+ 79, K% 29.3

Elly De La Cruz: a19 wRC+ 106, K% 31.0

There's some other super athletic 6'5" to 6'7" guys and what they did in their first full season in A ball.

Keoni Cavaco: a20 wRC+ 68, K% 34.2

The other 3 were all top 100 global prospects shortly after, or immediately after, those A ball seasons. Cavaco is a pretty wild comp.

[Rufus]

At 6-6 and maybe still growing he is probably too tall to stay at SS.   At that size though he might make a perfect 1st baseman

[Dman]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

 

I didn't realize Winokur was the new Walker Jenkins. It's tough when every Twins prospect is the best prospect in baseball around here.

I don't think either of us felt he was Jenkins, just not Cavaco.  Technically if Winokur could match Jenkins contact skills at the plate I would argue he would be better than Jenkins as I feel he has better speed and more position flexibility.   However,  Guys that don't come in with good contact skills generally don't develop into great contact hitters so that would take something extraordinary happening, but one can still dream since he just turned 20.  Right now I see him more of a power over hit type profile, but we'll see what he does this year.  Feels a bit ;like a Willie Castro comp to me right now with a chance to have a better hit tool.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

 

I didn't realize Winokur was the new Walker Jenkins. It's tough when every Twins prospect is the best prospect in baseball around here.

It is a good idea to watch a guy play at least 25-50 games before making statements about them. 

I have watched Winokur a ton. Here is what I have said .... Winokur has a ways to go with learning to pick up spin and off speed. He came a long, long way last year in that specific area. Winokur was easily beat early in the year and I wondered if he had an ability to adjust. There were things he did that kept me coming back over the summer though. He is tall, but his athleticism sticks out in every game. I didn't see a single game where there was a better athlete on the field. Someone mentioned power like Wallner. Winokur has that. He is also very fast and has an absolute cannon. He has made some throws from centerfield and shortstop that you just don't see. He is not a 5 tool player yet because he still needs to improve the hit tool. For a 19 year old last year he was surprisingly fluid in the field, runs extremely well, hits the ball hard, and throws about as well as anyone. If he makes the same progress this year as he did last year, Winokur will get pushed to Wichita. Jenkins and Winokur are totally different players. It is worthless to compare them.

I would encourage people to watch Winokur at bats. One can just tune in when he is due up or watch parts of games to see his fielding, throwing, and base running. It isn't necessary to watch the entire games. I promise you, the numbers are a waste of your time - watch the guy play.

[jorgenswest]

Winokur has a chance to reach the majors. Like most prospects it is unlikely. It is always sobering to look at other players drafted in the same slot to realize that very few of these players ever reach the majors. It can feel like a 3rd round draft choice has a good chance. Round 3 seems pretty early in the draft. If you look at all of the players drafted and signed from pick 82 you find one player with a long career as a regular. Kyle Seager was chosen with the 82nd pick. David Weathers is next with 10.9 career WAR over his 19 year career as a reliever. Alex Ochoa is next with 6.4 career WAR over 8 years in mostly a fourth outfielder role. There are 18 more players that reached the majors with career WAR ranging from -1.8 to 3.8. Many had good starts to their careers in the low minors. It is hard to get to the majors without offering some hope in A ball.

Too often I offer the sobering and easy take that it is unlikely he will reach the majors. I should more often make a bold take and imagine what he might be if he realizes that talent. Maybe he can have a career like Trevor Plouffe with a couple of pretty good seasons at the prime of his career. Want to dream bigger? How about Michael Cuddyer?

[tony&rodney]

Generally I prefer to stay away from comparisons, but if one is interested in similar players read what chpettit19 wrote above (again). If you don't know those 3 guys, try to tune in to a Nationals, Pirates, or Reds game when you get a chance.

Brandon Winokur has at least 2 years of experiences to gather before we can know where he is headed as a baseball player. Right now he is the most exciting prospect in the Twins system. Jenkins, Rodriguez, and Keaschall are better bets at this time though. On the pitching side we can identify Festa, Matthews, and Morris as the best bets while looking at Connor Prielipp as the most exciting pitching prospect. Festa was very efficient and induced weak contact in his first outing. It is going to be fun to follow a few of the Twins minor league players.

[Jeff K]

22 hours ago, Linus said:

I’m a firm believer that all prospects are suspects until they aren’t. Having said that I am as excited about Winokur as any prospect since Buck. To me he is head and shoulders above any other SS in our system and hope they leave him at short. He made a play in spring training where he went way deep in the hole, like way on the outfield grass, smooth backhand pickup and then threw an absolute seed to first.  Correa like velocity. 

I watched him play against the red sox near the end of spring training and he looked very good.

[bean5302]

Man this site has become toxic. I need a break.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Winokur has a chance to reach the majors. Like most prospects it is unlikely. It is always sobering to look at other players drafted in the same slot to realize that very few of these players ever reach the majors. It can feel like a 3rd round draft choice has a good chance. Round 3 seems pretty early in the draft.

He did get an over-slot bonus, more like a low 1st or high 2nd rounder. I agree that it is worth reminding people that any player who has a positive contribution with a major league team has beaten the odds.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Man this site has become toxic. I need a break.

I'm confused by this response. You had the only negative comment thus far in this thread. Everyone else has posited hopeful or speculative comments that all suggested it is too early to make a conclusion on Winokur. Earlier you made an attempt at a comparison between Winokur and Cavaco but didn't explain your thoughts. Generally you are quite complete in using numerical evidence of one sort or another to support your points and it seems to me that those posts are not usually refuted too much. There are moments of toxicity evident in many threads by pretty much all posters but I am not understanding this particular placement. 

On a side note-keep up the comparisons and numerical arguments. I think many find those interesting at times.

[DocBauer]

I'm a little late so whatever I say may be glossed over. But Winokur is one of my favorite prospects to follow.

Up until a couple years ago, young prospects often played in Florida, for rookie ball, sometimes Elizabethton, then went to the Midwest League at low A ball then went back to Florida for high A ball. Offense is harder in the humidity and heat in Florida. But the way it used to be. If you could hit there, you're probably ready for AA ball.

NOW, it's "if you can hit in rookie and low A ball in Florida, you're ready for high A in the Midwest League. And maybe that's better for prospects?

Winokur is a tremendous athlete with tremendous potential. That doesn't mean he's going to "make it". But a 19yo kid in FL being amongst the leader boards in various categories is exciting. If I'm not mistaken, his K % lowered as the season went along. 

He's ONLY 20yo and probably opening with Cedar Rapids this year at high A ball. Hopefully, we'll see graduall improvement with overall contact and recognition. The power is there. The speed is there. The athleticism is very apparent.

I watched the Futures Game and he made a nice stop and pick deep in the hole and threw the ball away. A little later, he made almost the exact same play and made an amazing strike to 1B to get the out.

I can see him continuing playing SS because MAYBE he can stick there. But I think his length is just too many moving parts to be consistent there. I think his future is CF. I've said before that if his bat plays as hoped for, I can see him as the future CF for the Twins with Rodriguez in LF...covering a lot of ground...and Jenkins in RF. Both Rodriguez and Jenkins can cover CF, but with Winokur's speed and build, he can gain some additional muscle/weight, and still maintain his speed, IMO. 

He's got a long road ahead of him. He's a good 2 seasons away from a debut. He has to prove he can hit at a higher level. He's got to get better at recognizing pitches outside the zone to reign in his K rate. But what he did in A ball as a 19yo can't be ignored.

BUT, even if he reaches the ML level with a 28-30% K rate, can he maintain a .250 ish AVG and a OB% in the .320 range with 20SB ability with 20-30 HR potential? With good range in CF he would be a stud player.

That's a lot to ask for I know. MAYBE he's even better than that. Maybe he washes out. But I have a hard time betting against a kid with the tools and ability he has to not succeed at this point.

 

[Dman]

9 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Man this site has become toxic. I need a break.

You have a lot of good takes and I have thumbed up many of your posts.  I get you are more realist than hopeful with numbers generally backing you up.  I's nice to have different takes on the site to get you thinking different ways and most times I appreciate your analysis. I just didn't like the comp for this one and didn't see the evidence to back it up.