Twins Daily's 2026 Minor League Pitcher of the Year

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Riley Quick photos from (William Parmeter - Mussels), (Malamut Photography - Kernels), (Ed Bailey -

 

The Twins have continued to add some intriguing arms to their pitching pipeline, and 2026 featured several pitchers taking important steps forward. From young prospects making their professional debuts to older pitchers looking to establish themselves at the upper levels, there were plenty of candidates worth considering for this year's award.

Before exploring this year’s top vote-getters, here’s a look back at Twins Daily’s recent winners of this award. 
2025: Dasan Hill
2024: Zebby Matthews
2023: Cory Lewis
2022: Louie Varland
2021: Louie Varland
2019: Randy Dobnak
2018: Tyler Wells
2017: Stephen Gonsalves
2016: Stephen Gonsalves
2015: Jose Berrios
2014: Jose Berrios
2013: Taylor Rogers
2012: BJ Hermsen

Let’s get into this year’s voting, starting with the honorable mentions and others receiving votes. 

Honorable Mentions

• SP Ty Langenberg: 4.29 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 20.8% K, 8.2% BB, 4.35 FIP, 123 2/3 IP (33 G, 33 GS)
• SP Adrian Bohorquez: 3.02 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 27.3% K, 12.6% BB, 3.92 FIP, 59 2/3 IP (19 G, 18 GS)
• RP Paulshawn Pasqualotto 3.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 32.9% K, 9.0% BB, 3.62 FIP, 70 IP (42 G, 0 GS)

3. RHP/SP Merit Jones
2026 Stats: 4.17 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 23.7% K, 8.7% BB, 4.54 FIP, 112 1/3 IP (15 GS, 29 G)

Jones had an interesting first full season of professional baseball, serving as both a starter and a reliever while still taking on a workload that looked much more like that of a starting pitcher.

The Twins' 2025 20th-round pick looked particularly sharp with Low-A Fort Myers early in the year, which earned him a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids in early August. Things got a little tougher with the Kernels, but the promotion showed the organization believed Jones was ready for a tougher challenge.

One of the biggest positives from his season was the ability to generate swings and misses. Despite never throwing more than five innings in any of his 15 starts, Jones recorded at least seven strikeouts in five of those outings. There is still plenty for Jones to work on as he continues moving through the system, but his first full professional season was a promising one. After handling both roles and more than 110 innings, he will look to carry that momentum into 2027.

2. RHP Preston Johnson
2026 Stats: 4.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 29.0% K, 9.0% BB, 4.73 FIP, 88 2/3 IP (18 GS, 24 G)

Johnson's path to a successful 2026 season was anything but conventional. After a rough 2025 campaign in the Orioles' system, he began this season in independent baseball before the Twins signed him in mid-May. Once he joined Minnesota's organization, though, Johnson looked pretty darn good. He spent the season with Double-A Wichita and racked up nearly 11 strikeouts per nine innings while showing solid command of the baseball.

The biggest issue was the long ball. Johnson allowed 15 home runs, which did a lot of the damage against him despite the strong strikeout and walk numbers. If he can find a way to limit that extra-base contact, there is a chance he could turn into a really promising minor league arm in 2027.

Age does factor into these votes, and that's a big part of why Johnson comes in at No. 2 rather than No. 1. Still, going from independent baseball to becoming one of the more productive pitchers in the Twins' system makes his 2026 season an impressive one.

Twins' Minor League Pitcher of the Year: RHP Riley Quick
2026 Stats: 4.74 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 30.6% K, 13.4% BB, 4.94 FIP, 81 2/3 IP (23 GS, 23 G)

Quick, who's Twins Daily's No. 5 prospect and top pitching prospect, had an extremely promising first year as a professional. After being selected 36th overall by the Twins in the 2025 MLB Draft, Quick looked like a man among boys at Low-A Fort Myers, both literally and figuratively. He needed just three starts there before earning a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids, where he continued to overpower hitters.

That performance eventually led to another promotion, this time to Double-A in mid-July. Quick struggled a bit more once he reached Wichita, but considering how quickly he moved through the organization, there was plenty to like about his first professional season.

The biggest concerns were his walks and hard contact. His 13.4% walk rate in particular is something that will need to improve if Quick is going to develop into a quality major league starter. But the stuff is clearly there.

Quick struck out 30.6% of the hitters he faced this season, showing the kind of swing-and-miss ability that made him such an intriguing draft pick in the first place. When the command is there, he has the ability to overwhelm hitters, and that gives him a much higher ceiling than the ERA alone might suggest.

He figures to begin 2027 at Double-A, where he did have some struggles after his promotion. With a full offseason to adjust to the level and continue developing his arsenal, though, there is plenty of reason to believe Quick can take another step forward next season. And if he does, it wouldn't be surprising to see him make his way to the major leagues at some point in 2027.

Several Twins pitchers had strong seasons in 2026, but Quick's combination of prospect status, strikeout ability and rapid movement through the organization made him stand out from the rest. His first professional season wasn't perfect, but there was more than enough there to make him the Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

 

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[SarasotaBill]

What did  Adrian Bohorquez do to you for him not to win this award?

It's not even close.

[DJL44]

Rojas must not be eligible 

[PuckettPond]

The cupboards are bare we need trades & the draft for help. Winter trades brings spring Hope. Twins are losing the Arms Race. Changes in the scouting department is needed & necessary.

[FlyingFinn]

4.74 ERA wins Twins minor league pitcher of the year. Ouch!

[mikelink45]

Not impressed.  Can we choose someone from another organization?

[big dog]

Well, we can talk about Chase Petty, our 2021 first round pick who was traded for Sonny Gray. He was up and down between AAA and the majors this year. His AAA stats are:

Games 22 (10 started)

58.1 IP

6.17 ERA

1.59 WHIP

57 K, 25 BB

16 games in the majors, 13 in relief. ERA 4.83, 31.2 IP, 15 K, 9 BB. 

I don't think he shows all that much promise at this point,  though he's still just 23 . 

[miracleb]

A far cry from Zebby's 2024 where he had a 2.60 ERA, 114 SO, 7 walks!

[old nurse]

13 minutes ago, miracleb said:

A far cry from Zebby's 2024 where he had a 2.60 ERA, 114 SO, 7 walks!

Zebby’s 21% k rate is pretty good, as is his 7% walk rate. Unfortunately there is the other 70% where for. A pitcher with his innings or more, he ranks near the bottom 

[DJL44]

Barren would be an acceptable adjective for describing their minor league pitching. If you look at the list of award winners, Randy Dobnak is the 3rd best on the list in the last decade. The Twins have been consistently below expectations at drafting and developing pitching.

[wesnewy]

I'm looking forward to seeing what Quick can do with another year of pro ball next year. He really started off well this year, not sure what happened but you can see the kid has talent.

[HrbieFan]

Those Whip's are way too high! The cupboard is bare 

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, SarasotaBill said:

What did  Adrian Bohorquez do to you for him not to win this award?

It's not even close.

Too difficult a name to spell?

I would have ranked him higher for sure.

Quick had a good season and the projection on him is good, but he struggled enough at AA that he's not the best choice if it's based purely on performance. If you're trying to make the list look good later...

[saviking]

Let's not move him to the majors too quick.. 

[Steve Lein]

2 hours ago, SarasotaBill said:

What did  Adrian Bohorquez do to you for him not to win this award?

It's not even close.

Personally, I'm not going vault a guy to this award with only 59 2/3 innings unless there's something ludicrous in the stat line. He got a vote from me, but it was good enough for the honorable mentions and not the top 3.

I also did not vote for Riley Quick (shrugs). But his season was extremely promising coming off all his missed time!

Edited 9 hours ago by Steve Lein

[killercarewoliva]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Rojas must not be eligible 

Yes I couldn't agree more. Rojas after that one outing where he walked everybody. he's done very well at the major League level and then he gets sent down to AAA. why? if a 4.74 is your picture of the year, the pitching part of your amount of leagues is got to be pretty bad. I mean look at the ones who got honorable mention. so many of those were over four on there and red average. for that to be successful, your offense is going to have to score at least six runs a game.

[killercarewoliva]

Just now, killercarewoliva said:

Yes I couldn't agree more. Rojas after that one outing where he walked everybody. he's done very well at the major League level and then he gets sent down to AAA. why? if a 4.74 is your picture of the year, the pitching part of your amount of leagues is got to be pretty bad. I mean look at the ones who got honorable mention. so many of those were over four on there and red average. for that to be successful, your offense is going to have to score at least six runs a game.

That's supposed to say pitching part of your minor leagues

 

[SarasotaBill]

1 hour ago, Steve Lein said:

Personally, I'm not going vault a guy to this award with only 59 2/3 innings unless there's something ludicrous in the stat line. He got a vote from me, but it was good enough for the honorable mentions and not the top 3.

I also did not vote for Riley Quick (shrugs). But his season was extremely promising coming off all his missed time!

ludicrous stat: 3.02 ERA over two leagues vs. 4.74

Quick pitched 22 more innings.

Bohorquez would have to give up 23 earned runs over 22 innings to have the same ERA and innings as Quick.

[SE23]

I'm a huge Bohorquez fan too, but understand his season was curtailed by time on the IL. He's among a handful of farm hands worth a close study in 2027. If Quick fully makes the adjustment to AA next spring, he could be a big deal too. We must add depth to our minor league pitching corps this off-season!

[MeleMouth]

A couple of positives in AA for Riley Quick: (1) his contact rate was 71.4%, which is pretty good, although not elite; and (2) 29.2% of his fly balls went for home runs, which sounds more like seriously bad luck than a lack of talent, especially because his ground ball rate was 9th out of 159 pitchers with more than 30 innings, which is elite, and his fly ball rate tied for 22nd best, which is very good.

That said, more than 6 walks per 9 innings and walking 5 per 9 in A+ is a big problem. It is rare that a pitcher with this many walks in AA makes the majors. Jose Soriano is one rare case, with similar K/BB stats in his abbreviated AA season at age 24 (Quick is 22), but with a HR rate about 80% less.

Supposedly, Quick is a raw talent, so I guess we have to hope that it's easier for the Twins pitching development program to make positive change with him than they did with so many other highly-regarded prospects who topped out at AA.

[Steve Lein]

1 hour ago, SarasotaBill said:

ludicrous stat: 3.02 ERA over two leagues vs. 4.74

Quick pitched 22 more innings.

Bohorquez would have to give up 23 earned runs over 22 innings to have the same ERA and innings as Quick.

You have a different definition of "ludicrous" than I do, haha.

Bohorquez was very-very good for most of the season. But it was just so little of it. Quick also bests him in K%.

[SarasotaBill]

25 minutes ago, Steve Lein said:

You have a different definition of "ludicrous" than I do, haha.

Bohorquez was very-very good for most of the season. But it was just so little of it. Quick also bests him in K%.

K% difference is one per game.

Can't wait to see who wins tonight with the highest K%.

3.02 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 27.3% K, 12.6% BB, 3.92 FIP, 59 2/3 IP (19 G, 18 GS)

4.74 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 30.6% K, 13.4% BB, 4.94 FIP, 81 2/3 IP (23 GS, 23 G)

Joke - unless ERA, WHIP, BB%, and FIP are not important.

[BSLinPA]

6 hours ago, big dog said:

Well, we can talk about Chase Petty, our 2021 first round pick who was traded for Sonny Gray. He was up and down between AAA and the majors this year. His AAA stats are:

Games 22 (10 started)

58.1 IP

6.17 ERA

1.59 WHIP

57 K, 25 BB

16 games in the majors, 13 in relief. ERA 4.83, 31.2 IP, 15 K, 9 BB. 

I don't think he shows all that much promise at this point,  though he's still just 23 . 

Good/worthy 2026 revisit, BD.

A few others.....2026 MLB only.

Brent Headrick NYY       7W   4L   2.10ERA   79IP   77H   96K   1.18WHIP             RP

Tyler Mahle ATL.            4W    1L    1.28ERA   49IP   37H   44K   0.892WHIP       yes, SSS

Sonny Gray BOS             17W    5L    2.82ERA   163IP   144H   146K   1.160WHIP   

Griffin Jax                        8W   10L   3.62ERA   109IP   95H   115K   1.189WHIP

Louis Varland                  5W   6L    1.29ERA   77IP   55H   95K   1.013WHIP   

Brock Stewart                1W   2L   2.45ERA   25IP   16H   24K   0.974WHIP      active, pitched last night

Danny Coulombe           0W   2L   4.50ERA   22IP   18H   10K   1.50WHIP     out since all star break

Chris Paddack                0W   7L   6.79ERA   57IP   76H   40K   1.667WHIP    in KBO since all star break

All but the last two are play--off bound.

 

[big dog]

Interesting. If we are just thinking about the minor league award, Headrick is the huge miss there since Varland won it twice. Jax is the only other one who was in the minors with the Twins, I think. 

[Steve Lein]

4 hours ago, SarasotaBill said:

K% difference is one per game.

Can't wait to see who wins tonight with the highest K%.

3.02 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 27.3% K, 12.6% BB, 3.92 FIP, 59 2/3 IP (19 G, 18 GS)

4.74 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 30.6% K, 13.4% BB, 4.94 FIP, 81 2/3 IP (23 GS, 23 G)

Joke - unless ERA, WHIP, BB%, and FIP are not important.

Like I said, I did not give Quick a vote, but I did Bohorquez. Was just providing some reasoning. Besides a couple weeks off for a brief respites, Quick did pitch the entire season. Bohorquez missed almost two months. When he got back he was very-very good, that's why he did get a vote from me.