Really, nothing from TD about the BREAKOUT game?

[DocBauer]

In case anyone missed it, the Twins won the MILB BREAKOUT game vs the Phillies. Of course it's all in fun and doesn't mean much, but I still find it interesting. 

Hill started the game and admitted he was ramped up and threw a couple 100mph FB for fun, but then settled down to a "normal' 95-96, while touching 97. He finished with 3.2 IP, 2 Hits, I ER, 2BB, and 3 K.

Unfortunately, CJ Culpepper had a pretty bad 2 Runs scored in 1.2 IP with only 1 K.

What SURPRISED me was 2025 draftee Ellwanger debuting and throwing 3 IP with 1 hit, 2 BB, and 2 K. 

Raya pitched the 9th and had a clean inning with 2 K.

On the position side, K-Pepper was 1 for 3 with a double and ended with 1 run scored, a BB, and 3 knocked in.

Rodriguez was 2-4 with hits, including a triple, a run scored and one knocked in with 2 K.

Gonzalez was 2-3  with 2 RBI and 1 BB.

Tait also knocked in 2 runs going 1-4.

Additionally, 2025 1st round pick Houston went 2-4 with an RBI.

There is nothing to be gathered for the future for 1 MILB game between 2 teams MILB systems. But isn't it fun to just see a collection of Twins MILB players doing well? 

It's really more about FUN, than projection. But it's also fun to win where you can.

[Linus]

Agreed Doc. Really enjoyed the game. First time watching Ellwanger pitch. A bit like Hill lots of good pitches that need to be harnessed a bit but he was 98 consistently with a good old fashioned curveball. I don’t know if KPepper will be a big league SS but he’s a really good athlete that will play somewhere. I really hope the Twins commit to some of these guys. Don’t rush them to the bigs but when their development is finished in AAA bring them up. This franchise needs to turn the page and these guys are worth giving a good shot. 

[Chembry]

I was trying to watch on a flight home yesterday, but the internet kept cutting in and out.

I enjoyed watching Hill pitch.  Velocity and movement was very good.  He got into a bit of trouble with some control issues, but he showed why the Twins are high on him.  Remember he just turned 20 in December.  I was impressed with Ellwanger as well.

Tait hit a rocket at 112 mph off the bat but Spikerman made a diving catch.  Houston also played well.  His line drive he hit up the middle was hard hit.  I was trying to find statcast numbers on that hit, but couldn't find any.    

Baseball America had some good things to say as well:

Most Impressive Moment: Twins’ outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez had a very impressive day at the plate, but no moment better summarized his loud tools than his triple in the bottom of the fourth. In a 2-2 count, Rodriguez hit a 97 mph fastball to left center field. The ball traveled at 113.2 mph and over center fielder Dante Nori’s head. Rodriguez turned on the jets and slid hard into third, catching the third base bag with flair.

Best Fastball: Honorable Mention: Twins lefty Dasan Hill hit 100.1 mph, as well as 99 mph multiple times. He produced multiple fastballs in the neighborhood of 20 inches of induced vertical break, too.

Best Breaking Ball/Changeup: Honorable Mention: Righthander Marco Raya enters 2026 in a full-time bullpen role for the first time in his career, and he showed electric stuff during his inning closing out the Twins’ victory against the Phillies. Raya recorded three whiffs and both his strikeouts on a sweeper at 86-87 mph during his 1-2-3 ninth inning. His most impressive pitch of the outing was an 86.9 mph sweeper with 16 inches of horizontal break at 2,700 rpm for a swinging strike to start the inning. 

Hardest Hit: Emmanuel Rodriguez didn’t just have the hardest-hit ball of the day—he had the two hardest-hit balls of the day! After striking out in his first at-bat, Rodriguez lined a 95 mph fastball to right field for a single at 115.6 mph. He followed it up with his aforementioned triple to left center at 113.2 mph off a 97 mph fastball.

Hardest Throw By A Defender: He wasn’t able to turn it into an out because it was a high-bouncing chopper far to his right, but Twins third baseman Quentin Young uncorked an absolute seed of a throw with a low one-hopper that was clocked at 93.4 mph. That is harder than any throw by any third baseman in an MLB spring training game this year (other than a wild throw for an error by Aroon Escobar).

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-spring-breakout-2026-top-prospects-pitches-performances-from-thursdays-games/