Minnesota Twins Minor League Pitchers of the Month: June 2026

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

June marks an important transition across Minor League Baseball. Most leagues move into the second half of their schedules, giving organizations an opportunity to reset after the opening months of the season. For some players, a strong first half is rewarded with a promotion up the organizational ladder. Others remain at their current level, focusing on refining their games before taking the next step. The Twins have seen both scenarios play out over the last several weeks. Several pitchers earned promotions after dominant stretches, while others began to find consistency after slow starts to the year. As the organization's pitching depth continues to be tested at multiple levels, quality performances throughout the farm system have become increasingly important.

Before looking at this month's top performers, here are a few honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions: 

• RHP C.J. Culpepper (Saints): 8 G, 11 2/3 IP, 1.54 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 11 K, 6 BB
• RHP Sam Armstrong (Wind Surge): 6 G, 26 IP, 3.12 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 21 K, 9 BB
• RHP Justin Mitrovich (Mighty Mussels): 4 G, 18 1/3 IP, 3.44 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 25 K, 8 BB

4. RHP Marco Raya – St. Paul Saints
June Stats (8 G): 0.00 ERA, 8 IP, 9 K, 2 BB, 0.83 WHIP, .190 BA

Raya has been on Minnesota's prospect radar since the Twins selected him out of high school in the 2020 MLB Draft. After spending years developing as a starter, 2026 has marked his first full season working exclusively out of the bullpen.

The transition looked rocky early. He posted an ERA north of 11.00 during the season's opening month before making noticeable improvements in May, lowering that mark to 4.08. June represented another significant leap forward. Raya fired eight scoreless innings, consistently attacked hitters with his improved stuff, and earned his first call to the major leagues.

Throughout his career, throwing consistent strikes has been Raya's biggest obstacle. His electric arm has never been in question. If he can continue limiting walks and commanding the zone against major league hitters the way he did throughout June, his bullpen future becomes much more intriguing.

3. RHP Grant Hartwig – St. Paul Saints
June Stats (8 G): 0.79 ERA, 11 1/3 IP, 11 K, 0 BB, 0.44 WHIP, .132 BA

Hartwig's previous major-league experience showed throughout June, as he became one of St. Paul's most dependable relief options. Opposing hitters batted over .320 against him during the season's first two months, but everything changed once the calendar flipped. He completely flipped the script by holding hitters to a .132 batting average and a .353 OPS during June. Just as impressive, he did not issue a single walk across more than 11 innings.

Reliability became the defining characteristic of his month. Hartwig didn't allow a run in seven of his eight appearances while also showing the ability to work multiple innings. Four of his outings lasted more than one inning, giving the Saints valuable length. He’s certainly a veteran the Twins could consider for a bullpen role in the season’s second half. 

2. RHP Jason Reitz – Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
June Stats (4 G): 1.88 ERA, 14 1/3 IP, 11 K, 5 BB, 0.84 WHIP, .149 BA

Reitz has quickly become one of the more recognizable pitching prospects in the organization, thanks to his towering 6-foot-11 frame. Selected in the fourth round out of Oregon last summer, the Twins elected not to have him pitch after signing, making 2026 his professional debut.

Minnesota has understandably handled his workload carefully, but the leash has gradually become longer. Reitz pitched into the fourth inning in three of his four June starts while continuing to show why scouts are fascinated by the extension he creates on the mound.

His raw stuff also continued to miss bats. He generated a season-high nine swinging strikes in his June 20 start and limited opponents to a .507 OPS for the month. As his innings continue to increase, Reitz is beginning to show why the Twins believed he could develop into an intriguing professional starter.

1. LHP Aaron Rozek – St. Paul Saints
June Stats (6 G): 2.89 ERA, 28 IP, 27 K, 11 BB, 1.18 WHIP, .220 BA

Rozek, a Burnsville native, has bounced between Double-A and Triple-A throughout the season, before settling into the Saints' rotation as injuries created opportunities in the upper levels of the organization. The move has produced impressive results. As a starter, his ERA has been 1.39 runs lower, while his WHIP has dropped by 0.67 compared to his relief work. That consistency earned him the top spot this month.

Pitching in the hitter-friendly International League is rarely easy, yet Rozek held opponents to a .220 batting average and a .706 OPS throughout June. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his six starts while also recording a season-high 11 swinging strikes on June 19.

At 30 years old, Rozek is more than two and a half years older than the average International League player, so he isn't viewed through the same long-term prospect lens as many others on this list. However, that doesn't diminish the value of what he accomplished. The Twins have already leaned heavily on their pitching depth this season, and if injuries continue to mount or workloads become a concern during the second half, Rozek has positioned himself as a legitimate option capable of providing quality innings at the major league level.

June showcased the improving depth throughout Minnesota's farm system. Raya earned his first taste of the big leagues after a remarkable turnaround, Hartwig reminded everyone he can be valuable upper-level depth, Reitz continued an encouraging professional debut, and Rozek emerged as one of the organization's most dependable Triple-A starters.

With two months remaining before the stretch run of the minor league season, promotions will continue to reshape each affiliate's roster. If these pitchers can build on their June success, several of them could play meaningful roles for the Twins before the 2026 season comes to a close.

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How would your ballot look? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[Major League Ready]

Happy to see Marco Raya getting it together.  Not so happy Soto and Ellwanger are out and Hill has been a bit of a disappoint.  He still has a high ceiling, but the lack of command is concerning.  I have only seen Reitz pitch once but he has promise.

We do have to keep in mind that Prielipp and Morris are transitioning quite well.  Rojas still needs a little refinement, but he looks like he could be very good.  Paredes has surprised me a little.  He might stick too.   It's actually been a pretty good year for developing ML pitchers.  Hopefully some of the injured guys can bounce back in the 2nd half.

[Dman]

I have enjoyed watching Rozek most his pro career, but every time I start to think he should be promoted or is worth adding he seems to just blow up. He doesn't throw real hard and is your typical crafty lefty.  I don't know how his arm would play at the MLB level, but it can't be much worse than Funderburk or Rogers.  We'll see how things go as the deadline approaches, but he has worked hard and proven he has the stuff to get guys out. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a chance to prove what he can or can't do at the MLB level.

Reitz is intriguing.  Not sure what to think just yet and got hit kind of hard his last time out.  I always thought it might take some time and that might be more reliever than starter.  He's off to a good start though and hopefully his stuff plays up.

Nice to Raya get his shot.  I sure hope he can be a Morris like arm out of the pen.  We need some guys to step up badly in the pen.  He has the pitches.  Hopefully he trusts them and moves them around the zone enough to become a late inning arm.

 

[weitz41]

C.J. Culpepper is the next BP arm to join Morris, Raya and company. Need to challenge the play by play people with two Culpepper's on the team. That starts with one.

[wesnewy]

Culpepper post ASG call up? I'm tired of seeing Orze in the BP.

[Mike Sixel]

I don't understand how not letting a college starter pitch more than three innings makes any sense at all. 

As for all those RPs..... Bring them up one at a time until one is good. 

[DocBauer]

Not exactly the names we'd all like to see on this list, but these things are cyclical month to month.

Said previously I'm glad Raya is getting his shot. He can always go down and be brought up if he needs a reset. But I really hope he continues to get a real opportunity here. I almost don't care what his numbers look like initially, I'm more concerned about improvement and growth via experience.

Reitz off to a solid start before his last appearance. 

You have to kinda root for Rozek as a "good organizational guy", but I doubt he has enough pure stuff to be considered a late bloomer who deserves a shot.

CJ should be up with the Twins before the year is done. He's got a solid history of quality production and numbers when healthy. Right now, he's fighting BB a bit at AAA. But he hasn't been there very long. I think there's a good chance he follows Morris as the next successful pen convert.

What's been unfortunate in the system this season is injuries. Elwanger exploded on the scene and then got shut down. Soto is being brought along slowly, and Hill has been fighting control, like a lot of young kids do. Bohorquez began the season on the IL. And while it's an exaggeration, it felt like half of the 2025 drafted arms began the season on the IL, including Reitz.

So again, this list could look very different next month.

[DocBauer]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I don't understand how not letting a college starter pitch more than three innings makes any sense at all. 

As for all those RPs..... Bring them up one at a time until one is good. 

I understand the frustration. But you also have to remember that even though college pitchers have more experience than a HS kid, they were used to throwing every 7 days in college. While throwing every 5-6 days doesn't sound massive, it's still a change. And most college arms settle in around 80-85 IP. And now the seasons are much longer, so they are usually on a pitch count, not an IP counter, so it's more of a marathon approach to build up for a full season.

If you look at Riley Quick, for example, he basically missed all of 2024 and threw a little over 60 innings in 2025. So again, it's a form of build up.