Twins Prospect Hot Sheet, July 28, 2025: Connor Prielipp and Other Starters Making Statements

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (Photo of Michael Ross)

 

Minnesota’s pitching development has long been under the microscope, but there’s a growing group of arms throughout the system starting to command attention. In Fort Myers, Cedar Rapids, and Wichita, a trio of pitchers is starting to string together dominant outings and push their way into organizational relevance. Michael Ross, Alejandro Hidalgo, and Connor Prielipp each turned heads this past week, showing why they belong on the radar as potential contributors down the line.

RHP Michael Ross, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
The Twins drafted Michael Ross in the 18th round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Samford University in Alabama, betting on his feel for pitching and ability to generate soft contact. After signing last season, the Twins held off his pro debut until the 2025 campaign. In his first full professional season, Ross has worked to refine his command while adjusting to the rigors of the Florida State League. He’s continued to pound the strike zone and limit walks but has been searching for consistency in deeper outings.

Hitting the Hot Button: That consistency may have finally arrived. Ross dominated Lakeland in his most recent start and flirted with perfection into the sixth inning. He retired the first 15 batters he faced, including four strikeouts, before a leadoff walk and an infield single ended the perfect outing. Ross calmly responded by retiring the next three batters to complete six shutout innings. It was the first quality start of the season for any Fort Myers pitcher. It was a statement outing from a pitcher who’s been building momentum and now appears poised for a strong second half. Since May 31, he has a 2.75 ERA with a 38-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 39 1/3 innings. On Monday, Ross was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week. 

RHP Alejandro Hidalgo, Cedar Rapids Kernels
Hidalgo’s path to the Twins began with the Gio Urshela trade in November 2022, when Minnesota acquired him from the Angels as a promising young arm. That promise was put on hold when he missed the entire 2024 season due to a shoulder injury, but the Twins have remained patient with the now 22-year-old right-hander. Entering 2025, he was still shaking off the rust, but a strong stretch in the middle of the year reminded fans and evaluators why the Twins were intrigued in the first place.

Hitting the Hot Button: This past week, Hidalgo turned in a strong bounce-back performance. Pitching for Cedar Rapids, he threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and kept batters off balance throughout. While he didn’t finish the fifth inning, it was a return to form after a couple of tough appearances. From May 25 to June 6, he rattled off a strong seven-game stretch, posting a 3.16 ERA across 25 2/3 innings with 30 strikeouts, while holding hitters to a .187 average. The upside is still very real. Hidalgo is slowly regaining the confidence and control that made him a breakout candidate before the injury.

LHP Connor Prielipp, Wichita Wind Surge
The Twins selected Prielipp in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, knowing he was coming off Tommy John surgery and might take time to return to full strength. Once viewed as a potential Top 10 pick before the injury, he carried one of the highest ceilings in the entire class. It’s taken time, and 2024 was a limited campaign as the team brought him along cautiously. However, by 2025, Prielipp is starting to resemble the prospect many expected him to become.

Hitting the Hot Button: Pitching at Double-A, Prielipp broke through the four-inning threshold for the second time this season over the weekend and delivered a sparkling line: 4 1/3 scoreless innings, five strikeouts, three hits, and just one walk. The lefty has now posted a 1.20 ERA over his last four outings (15 IP), striking out 17 and walking just five while holding opponents to a measly .602 OPS. His command has tightened, and his slider has been particularly devastating against both righties and lefties. Already viewed as the top pitching prospect in the Twins’ system, Prielipp is inching closer to a promotion to Triple-A and looks like a lock to land on national Top 100 lists heading into 2026.

The Twins' farm system continues to see its most intriguing growth on the mound. Ross is showing polish in Low-A, Hidalgo is flashing pre-injury form in Cedar Rapids, and Prielipp is pitching like a future playoff-caliber starter. All three are trending upward, giving the organization options, whether as future rotation pieces or potential trade chips as the deadline approaches.

There’s a long road from A-ball to Target Field, but outings like these are the foundation for something much bigger. Keep these names on your radar. The Twins certainly are.

Which performance stands out the most? Will Prielipp get promoted to Triple-A in the second half? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

 

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[Blyleven2011]

If Prielipp has refined his control  , a promotion is warranted to AAA  , if he continues to develop  , we could see him this season or next year  ...

If coloumbe is traded , a lefthander is needed for relief and he could be promoted for the bullpen from AA , wouldn't be any worse than funderburk in my opinion  ...

Since we drafted him , all I've ever heard is he got some pitches that are major league ready ...

[thelanges5]

Prielipp can take Dobnak’s innings. 

[mikelink45]

I enjoy these summaries, but our record with prospects has me waiting before getting excited about their potential.

[FlyingFinn]

38 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Prielipp can take Dobnak’s innings. 

Exactly what I was going to say. The only reason besides money to move Dobnak is to create room for someone else, Prielipp.

[olerud]

Stats are nice, and i know more about prielipp, but what velo do those other 2 have? Because that'll make all the difference as to weather they make it to the bigs or not. 

[The_No_Lifer]

27 minutes ago, olerud said:

Stats are nice, and i know more about prielipp, but what velo do those other 2 have? Because that'll make all the difference as to weather they make it to the bigs or not. 

Don't have statcast data on Hidalgo since he's never played in a park with public data. 

Ross averages 92.7 on the 2 seam fastball.  Slider, changeup and 4-seam have whiff rates in the low 30%s.  Could be a guy who starts up through AAA, then moves to the pen and the fastball moves up to 95+.

[Doctor Wu]

12 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Exactly what I was going to say. The only reason besides money to move Dobnak is to create room for someone else, Prielipp.

Definitely time to move Prielipp up, especially with the new vacancy in St. Paul. Hey, I know the injury history and innings limits, but the "kid" is now 24 and apparently healthy, and probably ready for a new  challenge. 

[jmlease1]

Ross will need to get his velocity up or have something else in his arsenal to do more as he advances. He's fine, I guess, but at 22 in low-A he should be pushing around those kids, and so far he's just been ok, really. He's been fine in his first pro season, but still looks more like a suspect than a prospect to me.

Hidalgo is better positioned with his stuff, but he's still clearly working his way back from the injury and needs a lot of work on his command & control. He's got the stuff to hunt K's, but also doesn't always know where the ball is going, and that WHIP needs a lot of work. Maybe he can crack the Twins top 30, but I'd want to see more.

Prielipp is the real prospect here: he's finally staying on the field and letting his talent shine. The stuff is filthy and you can see exactly why the Twins took a risk on him despite the injury history. He's been oddly hittable this season, however, and it's something to watch with him. Curious to see where his splits end up at the end of the season; he hasn't crushed  LH hitters like you might expect, but it's also a pretty small sample. If he can stay healthy, he's a real guy, but until he gets a couple of healthy seasons under his belt it's going to follow him like a dark cloud unfortunately.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Prielipp when healthy is dominant, like #1 or #2 pitcher dominant.  Health has always been the question mark.  Its why he had 1st round talent but were able to get him in the 2nd round,  and also why he has been on the shelf for a significant portion of the last 3-4 years.  As a lefty,  with his velocity,  spin,  and quality pitches  he definitely looks like are next high quality SP pitcher prospect.  I do like the way they have been handling his workload,  and gradually stretching him out.   

Good job for Hidalgo and Ross, they are doing their jobs but most likely the stuff from either is not good enough.  The splits for July for Hidalgo are not good.  

If you want to talk about a pitcher that is making a statement,  its Bohorquez.  0 ERA for July, only 2 total runs.  He has a .077 Batting average against in 16 innings.  He does need to work on his control,  3 HBP, and 4 BB,  compared to just the 4 hits he has given up.  Like Hidalgo he started off slow,  jumping from FCL, but he has been dominant lately in A ball.   

[1985Fan]

I wonder if Prielipp can handle bullpen work this year. I’m guessing there is an innings limit on him and he’s at 52 now. Could he handle the change in warmup routine, pitching from the stretch, and the stress of BP duty. He could be used as a starter in a BP game or they could limit him to only begin innings instead of coming in during an inning. Would be great to give him a taste of the big leagues if/when they trade Columbe. 

[Steve Lein]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Prielipp is the real prospect here: he's finally staying on the field and letting his talent shine. The stuff is filthy and you can see exactly why the Twins took a risk on him despite the injury history. He's been oddly hittable this season, however, and it's something to watch with him. Curious to see where his splits end up at the end of the season; he hasn't crushed  LH hitters like you might expect, but it's also a pretty small sample. If he can stay healthy, he's a real guy, but until he gets a couple of healthy seasons under his belt it's going to follow him like a dark cloud unfortunately.

This was part of my summary for Prielipp in the Top Prospect Vote that finished last week:

"Has been giving up hits, but also is a buzzsaw. That's a command issue (as opposed to control, where he's doing just fine with a sub 2.5/9IP walk rate) I will attribute to returning from so many injuries and basically re-learning how to pitch with a new arm."

June was a "bad" month, as he had a near 2.00 WHIP in his four starts, but also had only a 2.45 ERA to go with that. I do not worry about the hits at this point as mentioned above, because he isn't giving up a bunch of runs along with them. 

I like the idea to get him up to the Saints and take some of the Dobnak innings.

[Steve Lein]

Also, Alejandro Hidalgo was just announced as being promoted to Wichita!

[jmlease1]

15 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

This was part of my summary for Prielipp in the Top Prospect Vote that finished last week:

"Has been giving up hits, but also is a buzzsaw. That's a command issue (as opposed to control, where he's doing just fine with a sub 2.5/9IP walk rate) I will attribute to returning from so many injuries and basically re-learning how to pitch with a new arm."

June was a "bad" month, as he had a near 2.00 WHIP in his four starts, but also had only a 2.45 ERA to go with that. I do not worry about the hits at this point as mentioned above, because he isn't giving up a bunch of runs along with them. 

I like the idea to get him up to the Saints and take some of the Dobnak innings.

I think that's fine, and I agree that he should be expected to have command issues as he's finally getting back on the mound for real baseball after years of missed time for injuries. But it's a reminder that maybe he's not ready to get thrown up to MLB just yet, even though the stuff is elite.

I think he's a really exciting prospect, and would be fine with him coming up to AAA. But I'd pump the brakes on him joining the MLB bullpen

[Connor Gould]

I'm conflicted on Prielipp. Obviously, he's always had stuff and it's fun to dream on, but at this point he's 24 and after throwing 28 college innings he's had 82 career pro innings. I'd love to see an ace, but I really don't know if he'll ever build up to the 150-180 innings range. I wonder if he could be one of those 80-100 innings a year as a bullpen/bulk guy in the future. But still, nice to see him pitching well and healthy this year, hope he gets bumped to AAA soon.

[bunsen82]

2 hours ago, Connor Gould said:

I'm conflicted on Prielipp. Obviously, he's always had stuff and it's fun to dream on, but at this point he's 24 and after throwing 28 college innings he's had 82 career pro innings. I'd love to see an ace, but I really don't know if he'll ever build up to the 150-180 innings range. I wonder if he could be one of those 80-100 innings a year as a bullpen/bulk guy in the future. But still, nice to see him pitching well and healthy this year, hope he gets bumped to AAA soon.

1 elbow injury cost basically 3 years.  Had to do an additional repair.  Once its fixed its not surprising that they are healthy,  hell just look at Buxton.  I could have swore his career was finished 2 years ago.  Now he plays like nothing happened.  

[purplesoldier4u]

Prielipp's 2020 season at Alabama is crazy! 21 IP and 5 hits! Hahaha!

[DocBauer]

I like the idea of Prielipp getting a couple months at AAA to close out the year. The command is still an issue, and he's probably not going to go over 70 pitches in any game this season. So with his overall peripherals solid, let him get those 70 pitches per game at AAA. 

Hidalgo has been quite inconsistent. But don't we rather expect that coming off a missed season? But he's certainly shown enough to this point to deserve that AA promotion. It helps set him up for 2026, just like Prielipp to AAA. Hidalgo has shown nice K ability previously and sitting just over 11K per 9 this season. If his overall command/control gets reigned in, he stays in the rotation probably. If not, he's quite likely one of the next arms the Twins convert to a solid pen option.

 

Just don't know enough about Ross to comment accurately. He got better each year in college and if you keep the hits and BB numbers down, a K per 9 between 8-9 can work. But a 23yo in Low A ball should be doing that, even in his rookie season. I have to see him do the same thing at a higher level before I can feel comfortable that he's another find. But so far so good.

[Fatbat]

Priellipp’s got a chance at a cup of coffee in Sept inMLB if Columbe is traded. If he doesn’t, no big deal because next season he will be knocking the door down. 
Hildago heading to AA is pretty awesome! Time for the next step in his development!

[h2oface]

“….. Prielipp broke through the four-inning threshold for the second time this season…..”

And that is a plus? All of 2 times?

The pipeline is a mirage.