Top 20 Twins Prospects, May 2025 Update: Two New Names to Know

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (Photo of Carson McCusker)

As the calendar flipped to May, the Twins Daily prospect rankings saw two new faces break into Minnesota’s updated Top-20 list. These two players weren’t the only ones who moved compared to the organization’s preseason list. Luke Keaschall surpassed Emmanuel Rodriguez as the organization’s number two prospect. Connor Prielipp was the biggest riser, moving up five places to number five in the organization. While those names are a little more well-known, let’s focus on the previously under-the-radar players. 

No. 13– Billy Amick, 3B
The Twins selected Amick with the 60th overall in the 2024 amateur draft out of Tennessee, where he hit 23 homers during his junior season. The Volunteers went on to win the College World Series. Amick wasted little time showing why the Twins invested a second-round pick in his bat. In his pro debut, he hit .222/.351/.413 (.763) with three doubles and three homers in 63 Low-A at-bats. There were some positive early signs that the Twins hoped would translate into his 2025 campaign. 

In 21 High-A games for Cedar Rapids during April, he slashed .342/.475/.447 (.992) with six doubles and one triple. Amick’s plate discipline has been a calling card in his early professional career, with a BB% above 15%. His strikeout rate sat below 20% last season and has increased to 26.3% in his first 99 plate appearances in 2025, so that will be something to monitor as he climbs the organizational ladder.

What Makes Him Stand Out
Amick’s profile is built on power potential and a polished approach. MLB Pipeline ranks his best tool as his power with a 55 grade. While he hasn’t yet found home-run power in April’s small sample, his combination of bat-to-ball skills and strength suggests 20-plus home runs across a full season. Defensively, his arm and actions at third base grade out as average to above average, giving him the potential to stick on the left side of the infield. 

Future Impact
Amick’s advanced feel for hitting and emerging power profile project him as a corner-infield option in the upper minors by mid-2026. Given Minnesota’s need for right-handed thump and defensive versatility, he could be ticketed for Double-A Wichita by season’s end. Long term, Amick must show better pitch recognition especially when facing pitchers with better stuff in the upper minors. However, if he sustains his current approach, he could be the kind of high-floor bat that slots into Minnesota’s regular lineup by 2027.

No. 19– Carson McCusker, OF
McCusker is one of the best stories in the Twins organization. He went undrafted after his senior season at Oklahoma State and played parts of three seasons in the independent leagues before signing with the Twins. Minnesota signed him in 2023, and he quickly showed his power potential with 14 long balls and a .867 OPS in his first 46 games at Low- and High-A. Last season, the Twins moved him into the upper minors, and he continued to showcase his powerful swing. In 123 games, he hit .282/.353/.488 (.841) with 19 home runs, 30 doubles, and four triples. He was a challenging prospect to gauge because he was already 26 years old, but there’s no question that he can hit. 

He opened 2025 on fire at Triple-A St. Paul, compiling a league-leading 1.067 OPS in 31 games during April, with seven home runs and four doubles. As with most power hitters, his game has a lot of swing and miss. Early in his professional career, he was striking out over 35% of the time, but he has pushed that total to below 30% over the last two seasons.

What Makes Him Stand Out
At 6-8 and 250 pounds, McCusker combines imposing size with surprising bat speed, driving balls to all fields and regularly generating exit velocities north of 110 mph. The Twins have seemingly spent multiple seasons searching for a right-handed power-hitting corner outfielder, and McCusker can fill that role at some point in 2025. 

Future Impact
McCusker turns 27 on May 22nd, making him older than many top prospects. However, his track record of late-blooming success suggests a high floor as a Quad-A tweener who could slide into a bench or platoon role in Minnesota as early as late 2025. If the Twins face left-handed starters or need late-season pop off the bench, McCusker’s advanced approach and proven power could earn him a 40-man roster spot. In the long term, his outfield defense at Triple-A is good enough to stick in a corner, making a role as a situational hitter and occasional outfielder a realistic path to sustained big-league contributions.

Neither McCusker nor Amick were household names this winter, but both forced their way onto the Twins’ updated Top-20 list by combining advanced tools with early-season production. McCusker’s brute power and veteran savvy make him a candidate for a late-season call-up, while Amick’s polished approach and burgeoning power could see him rise rapidly through High-A and Double-A. As fans and writers alike weighed ballots in early May, it was clear that these two prospects are now must-watch names in Minnesota’s pipeline. Their continued development will go a long way toward shaping the Twins’ run-producing outlook for years to come.

What are your thoughts on the two additions to the Twins Daily Top 20 prospects?

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[mikelink45]

Excellent profiles.  I am ready for McCusker to be on the Twins bench and at DH right now.

[thelanges5]

Amick could be the home grown 1B of the future. Out with an oblique injury right now but he seems destined for Wichita in the 2nd half of the summer. 
 

McCusker would add some needed thump  to the lineup. He’s not on the 40 man but dropping Bride or Clemens would make it relatively easy. 

[dxpavelka]

Not much in the way of either hitting the big leagues soon except inexperience.  And, hopefully, Emmanuel Rodriguez.

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Excellent profiles.  I am ready for Amick to be on the Twins bench and at DH right now.

Amick is at High A ……..he profiles to get to St. Paul sometime next summer. Loooong way to Twin’s DH spot. McCusker could be in that spot in a week or so……..oddly enough, when Wallner comes back it makes McCusker more realistic. Wallner displaces Kiersey & McCusker can displace Clemens as Castro (at 2B when needed) will be able to be committed to IF innings once Wallner is back.

Bride/Lewis - CC - Lee/Castro - France

Larnach - Bader - Buxton - Wallner - McCusker

Seems like another uptick offensively.

[JD-TWINS]

Do the Twins have to keep Clemens on 26-man to back up France? How long does France play every inning? ………an obvious thought some other baseball people have considered for probably 10 years, can McCusker play 1B?

Does Gasper come back up as the #12 guy as 1B - C - 2B back-up…………apparently tearing cover off in St Paul 

Does Miranda have a pulse yet at AAA? I guess he’s the logical 13th guy at some point as he can play 1B & displace Bride at 3B. Wrist? Back? Bat to ball yet?

[Linus]

I’m surprised to read the assessment of Amicks defense. Every scouting report Ive read is that Amick is a subpar fielder who stands little chance of playing third at higher levels with no defensive upside. Get him to first now in case he hits so he can be passable at one position. 
At this point the Twins need to give McCusker a look. Now is a great time with Wallner out. I’m sure the Twins have their internal assessments that apparently say he can’t do it in the bigs but I want to see him get a chance. 

[jmlease1]

15 minutes ago, Linus said:

I’m surprised to read the assessment of Amicks defense. Every scouting report Ive read is that Amick is a subpar fielder who stands little chance of playing third at higher levels with no defensive upside. Get him to first now in case he hits so he can be passable at one position. 
At this point the Twins need to give McCusker a look. Now is a great time with Wallner out. I’m sure the Twins have their internal assessments that apparently say he can’t do it in the bigs but I want to see him get a chance. 

Amick is splitting time at 3B and 1B. dumping him down the defensive spectrum while still in A-ball is probably too soon: we've seen guys develop defensively before to where they can be at least passable, and if Amick can be a 3B-1B guy he'll have substantially more utility. Other than getting injured, he's doing everything the Twins could ask for from him, though and is off to a nice start for his first full professional season.

McCusker is in a tough spot, not being on the 40-man. With this front office, they're unlikely to DFA someone they might lose to another organization just to promote McCusker unless absolutely forced to, either because of positional scarcity or McCusker annihilating the baseball at such absurd levels they look stupid leaving him down there. They're probably not there yet; while McCusker has done great, Saint Paul is a bit of a bandbox. Team OPS is sitting at .797, which is pretty wild. And notably, Mickey Gasper, who looked somewhat overmatched in MLB has gone back to AAA and is destroying the baseball again.

[LambchoP]

I think Mccusker has more than earned a call up at this point. They could send down Keirsey, Bride or Clemens to open a spot. Have him platoon with Larnach in the OF and give him DH at bats. If he looks like he can stick in the majors, might be a good idea to try him out at first base in the off-season. He's got the prototypical power bat for first base....

[Trov]

I personally am not huge on McCusker.  He is about to be 27 and not made MLB yet.  He strikes out at a very high rate, which is expected with a power hitter like he is showing. Yes, some guys can be late bloomers, but many times they have some expected upside to give them the time to develop.  Two guys came to mind just based on their a little later call ups, and one really did not thrive until around 30.  Now, I am not saying he will be either, as I said I am not big on him.  

However, Nelson Cruz was a guy that was not called up until 25, but he really did not become a regular MLB player until he was 28.  He was up and down, not doing much for a few years.  After he hit 30 he took off HR wise and was a reliable DH for a decade plus. 

Some will say this comp is crazy, but Aaron Judge really was a call up at 25, and just took off though.  He was a 31 on top 100 list that year.  His minor league numbers were similar to McCusker.  I do not think people expect Judge to become what he did, I think playing in NY has helped with that short porch in RF.  Judge was viewed by many as a top guy, maybe not MVP out the gate.  Buck was number 2 prospect same year Judge was number 31 fyi.  Point is, McCusker being 27 does not take him off the chance of having an MLB career for years, and he could take off right away, it has happened.  I just would not be sold on it for him.  I do think if he continues to hit like he is he will force a call up. 

[Guest]

Amick has too much swing-and-miss and no HRs in nearly 100 PAs in 2025.  He projects as our starting 1B?

I'm a McCusker fan.  He's not cooling off, his plate discipline is improving and his hard-hit rate is going to kill an unlucky bystander.  Hard to believe no one's tried someone 6'8" at 1B, but here we are.... 

[saviking]

You would think the Twins could try one of them out at first base. 

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

...How long does France play every inning?...

...Does Miranda have a pulse yet at AAA?...

Part 1: [Gleeman] Rocco Baldelli was talking about the importance of giving players days off to avoid wearing down. Then he turned to Justin Morneau in the back of the room and asked: "You ever play all 162?" "I played 163." Amazing flex. (Morneau played 163 in 2008 and was runner-up for MVP.)

Part 2: There was basically no news on Miranda until he showed up in the Saints lineup on 5/9. He's 0-6 with a BB and 2 Ks right now.

[bean5302]

I'd still like to see 200 PA for McCusker before calling him up. He was not great last year in AAA, and getting a good sample size is important. McCusker is still making adjustments and progressing in St. Paul right now. I'd like him to be as good as he reasonably can be before the Twins call him up. The plate production for the Twins has been pretty miserable this year so I get the desire to see a huge bat in the lineup, but McCusker is going to be .150/.200/.350 with a 5% BB and 50% K rate at MLB if he's not ready.

[bean5302]

With a .500 BABIP and a .105 ISO in Cedar Rapids, I left the 22 year old college slugger Amick off my top 20.

[mikelink45]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Amick is at High A ……..he profiles to get to St. Paul sometime next summer. Loooong way to Twin’s DH spot. McCusker could be in that spot in a week or so……..oddly enough, when Wallner comes back it makes McCusker more realistic. Wallner displaces Kiersey & McCusker can displace Clemens as Castro (at 2B when needed) will be able to be committed to IF innings once Wallner is back.

Bride/Lewis - CC - Lee/Castro - France

Larnach - Bader - Buxton - Wallner - McCusker

Seems like another uptick offensively.

I McCusker but pleased with both. 

[mikelink45]

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Excellent profiles.  I am ready for Amick to be on the Twins bench and at DH right now.

I meant McCusker. 

[Linus]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Amick is splitting time at 3B and 1B. dumping him down the defensive spectrum while still in A-ball is probably too soon: we've seen guys develop defensively before to where they can be at least passable, and if Amick can be a 3B-1B guy he'll have substantially more utility. Other than getting injured, he's doing everything the Twins could ask for from him, though and is off to a nice start for his first full professional season.

McCusker is in a tough spot, not being on the 40-man. With this front office, they're unlikely to DFA someone they might lose to another organization just to promote McCusker unless absolutely forced to, either because of positional scarcity or McCusker annihilating the baseball at such absurd levels they look stupid leaving him down there. They're probably not there yet; while McCusker has done great, Saint Paul is a bit of a bandbox. Team OPS is sitting at .797, which is pretty wild. And notably, Mickey Gasper, who looked somewhat overmatched in MLB has gone back to AAA and is destroying the baseball again.

So Amick is on the Austin Martin defensive development plan?

[Mike Sixel]

I think DeAndrade will be on this list by the end of the year......

[DocBauer]

The draft profiles on Amick's bat were pretty universal: big power, solid contact, chases out of the zone too much. His defensive profile had him with a strong arm and questionable at 3B to decent and improved in his year at Tennessee with the potential to stay there. Most profiles held with the latter opinion so there's no reason to move him off 3B permanently yet. He might be average there.

McCusker might be a late bloomer who makes it, or he just might not have that "something" that let's him succeed at the top level. But he has shown continued improvement since the Twins signed him. And it's fine if we want to say the IL is a hitters league with inflated numbers. But let's just say we take a .100 points off his AVG, his OB and SLG %. to adjust for the ML level. Hed still be hittibg .233 with a .300 OB and .558 SLG. That's still a highly powerful, and solidly productive player. I'd sure like to see him get his chance at some point this season. 

[chpettit19]

16 minutes ago, Linus said:

So Amick is on the Austin Martin defensive development plan?

I think there's a little difference there. Martin at SS didn't make any sense because he didn't have the arm strength for it and was never going to have the arm strength for it. Keeping him there didn't make any sense because he was never going to be able to play the position in the majors because of a physical limitation. Amick has the arm for third. The defensive questions with him are ones that can be taught and improved as opposed to a straight physical limitation like Martin's arm. 

I don't think splitting his time at 3B and 1B is unreasonable. Giving up all hope at 3B in his first full season would be an awfully quick hook and an awfully gigantic indictment of your player development team. Essentially saying you have no faith in your people being able to improve defensive skill. You should fire those people if you think that's the case.

[Dman]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

With a .500 BABIP and a .105 ISO in Cedar Rapids, I left the 22 year old college slugger Amick off my top 20.

Yeah I noticed that as well.  His numbers are going to come down and they were until he got hurt.  Still I think the fact that he is taking his fair share of walks and getting so much solid contact seem to dispel some of the concerns that he might not improve much.  

I'm not as pessimistic, but I also don't think you are wrong to be concerned.  I think the power will return. If I had to guess I would think they wanted him to focus on contact in the zone first as that was a pretty major concern coming out of college and likely the reason he fell to mid second round (he had late first round buzz if you looked past the warts).  If his injury isn't too bad I expect a power surge later in the year.

We'll see.  I was extremely pessimistic when they made the pick and am on record as not liking it. There is still plenty to be concerned about, but he hasn't been the train wreck I expected he might be.

[Linus]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

I think there's a little difference there. Martin at SS didn't make any sense because he didn't have the arm strength for it and was never going to have the arm strength for it. Keeping him there didn't make any sense because he was never going to be able to play the position in the majors because of a physical limitation. Amick has the arm for third. The defensive questions with him are ones that can be taught and improved as opposed to a straight physical limitation like Martin's arm. 

I don't think splitting his time at 3B and 1B is unreasonable. Giving up all hope at 3B in his first full season would be an awfully quick hook and an awfully gigantic indictment of your player development team. Essentially saying you have no faith in your people being able to improve defensive skill. You should fire those people if you think that's the case.

Well maybe that’s the crux of the issue. I guess you are right about leaving him there for a longer evaluation. My beef is that the Twins do not seem to possess the evaluation skills to recognize where a player is best suited defensively and make that decision well enough in advance to let them excel. Or it could be their practice to take every poor defender and try and make them more valuable with “versatility” meaning they are poor at multiple positions. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

4 hours ago, Linus said:

I’m surprised to read the assessment of Amicks defense. Every scouting report Ive read is that Amick is a subpar fielder who stands little chance of playing third at higher levels with no defensive upside. Get him to first now in case he hits so he can be passable at one position. 
At this point the Twins need to give McCusker a look. Now is a great time with Wallner out. I’m sure the Twins have their internal assessments that apparently say he can’t do it in the bigs but I want to see him get a chance. 

Linus -  The initial reports on Amick were poor defensively and poor range,  In 2024 he really did quite well and was above average on most defensive metrics.  Now last I had saw was he had 2 errors at 3rd base so far this year.  He had been moving around and playing some 1st base,  but 3rd base isn't out of the question.  The bigger issue is, I don't see how he displaces 3rd place in the near future.  With Lewis and Lee likely manning the positions,  I ultimately think Keaschall ends up at 2nd.  If Keaschall continues to push the team,  we could see a trade in the future between Lee, keaschall and Lewis.   

[Linus]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Linus -  The initial reports on Amick were poor defensively and poor range,  In 2024 he really did quite well and was above average on most defensive metrics.  Now last I had saw was he had 2 errors at 3rd base so far this year.  He had been moving around and playing some 1st base,  but 3rd base isn't out of the question.  The bigger issue is, I don't see how he displaces 3rd place in the near future.  With Lewis and Lee likely manning the positions,  I ultimately think Keaschall ends up at 2nd.  If Keaschall continues to push the team,  we could see a trade in the future between Lee, keaschall and Lewis.   

What metric reports for low A ball?  He was considered poor as a college third baseman. Scouting reports when he was drafted basically said he would be a DH in the bigs. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Just now, Linus said:

What metric reports for low A ball?  He was considered poor as a college third baseman. Scouting reports when he was drafted basically said he would be a DH in the bigs. 

At Tennessee.   The early reports prior to the season was poor defensive metrics,  the metrics for college came back much better and many of the scouts stated as much, buy you had several that maintained effectively a low defensive ceiling and did not increase it based on his improved defense.  

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, Linus said:

Well maybe that’s the crux of the issue. I guess you are right about leaving him there for a longer evaluation. My beef is that the Twins do not seem to possess the evaluation skills to recognize where a player is best suited defensively and make that decision well enough in advance to let them excel. Or it could be there practice to take every poor defender and try and make them more valuable with “versatility” meaning they are poor at multiple positions. 

I think their biggest problem is that they just haven't tended to bring in a lot of guys with much defensive ability. Julien is/was never going to be a good defender anywhere. And that may be true for Amick as well. But it made sense for them to try him in a few different spots. Miranda worked his way pretty steadily down the defensive spectrum. Martin has been a utility guy since his college days, partly because he's a great athlete but not defender. 

3B/1B split is pretty standard. Plenty of guys do that in plenty of organizations. Locking guys into the bottom of the defensive spectrum is not a great option if it can be at all avoided. I think people underestimate how many guys in other orgs move positions in the minors and as they reach the majors. The needs of the major league team change frequently. Jordan Walker was a top 3B prospect for the Cards until some guy named Arenado showed up and suddenly he was an OF prospect. Jackson Merrill was a SS only until he was MLB ready with the bat and the Padres needed a CFer and not a SS. Mookie Betts was a middle infielder until he got to AAA and wasn't going to supplant Pedroia or Bogaerts. 

I'm not going to claim the Twins are great at anything with the position player prospects. They've struggled far too much with developing their bats and gloves for me to claim that. But I think their decisions on where guys play are mostly pretty defensible. Outside of a few, like Martin at SS for far too long. I think they've been far too bat driven with the types of players they've drafted and that's been their bigger problem. I don't know that Amick is going to be a good enough defender at 3B, but I think splitting 3B and 1B reps makes sense at this point.

[Linus]

21 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I think their biggest problem is that they just haven't tended to bring in a lot of guys with much defensive ability. Julien is/was never going to be a good defender anywhere. And that may be true for Amick as well. But it made sense for them to try him in a few different spots. Miranda worked his way pretty steadily down the defensive spectrum. Martin has been a utility guy since his college days, partly because he's a great athlete but not defender. 

3B/1B split is pretty standard. Plenty of guys do that in plenty of organizations. Locking guys into the bottom of the defensive spectrum is not a great option if it can be at all avoided. I think people underestimate how many guys in other orgs move positions in the minors and as they reach the majors. The needs of the major league team change frequently. Jordan Walker was a top 3B prospect for the Cards until some guy named Arenado showed up and suddenly he was an OF prospect. Jackson Merrill was a SS only until he was MLB ready with the bat and the Padres needed a CFer and not a SS. Mookie Betts was a middle infielder until he got to AAA and wasn't going to supplant Pedroia or Bogaerts. 

I'm not going to claim the Twins are great at anything with the position player prospects. They've struggled far too much with developing their bats and gloves for me to claim that. But I think their decisions on where guys play are mostly pretty defensible. Outside of a few, like Martin at SS for far too long. I think they've been far too bat driven with the types of players they've drafted and that's been their bigger problem. I don't know that Amick is going to be a good enough defender at 3B, but I think splitting 3B and 1B reps makes sense at this point.

I think your observation about the defensive profiles of the guys they draft is an important point. In any event, they don’t have a strong track record of developing strong defensive players (who would be the strongest defender developed in the Falvey era?) so I’m not going to be one to have a lot of confidence in them in that area. 

[Linus]

26 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

At Tennessee.   The early reports prior to the season was poor defensive metrics,  the metrics for college came back much better and many of the scouts stated as much, buy you had several that maintained effectively a low defensive ceiling and did not increase it based on his improved defense.  

Your response is confusing. In any event the guy is not a good fielder now and he is a long way from the bigs where it would be substantially harder to be a good fielder. So you can do your pie in the sky thing and I will not hold my breath for him to be manning third baseman at Target Field. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

I think there's a little difference there. Martin at SS didn't make any sense because he didn't have the arm strength for it and was never going to have the arm strength for it. Keeping him there didn't make any sense because he was never going to be able to play the position in the majors because of a physical limitation. Amick has the arm for third. The defensive questions with him are ones that can be taught and improved as opposed to a straight physical limitation like Martin's arm. 

I don't think splitting his time at 3B and 1B is unreasonable. Giving up all hope at 3B in his first full season would be an awfully quick hook and an awfully gigantic indictment of your player development team. Essentially saying you have no faith in your people being able to improve defensive skill. You should fire those people if you think that's the case.

We usually agree, but that's no indictment on the coaches....it's about the player. 

That said, fine, keep him there this year, but let's not pretend this team works HARD to develop a guy at one position and make him great....Martin is the poster child.