Twins Daily Awards 2026: Rookie of the Year

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

We're going to keep this one pretty short and simple since it wasn't much of a race. Only two players had enough playing time and good enough performance to credibly qualify for this award. 

That's not to say this season was lacking for high-profile debuts. Top prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez received late-season call-ups, but Jenkins didn't reach 100 plate appearances and Rodriguez didn't reach 50. Kaelen Culpepper had a larger sample of playing time, but did not quite meet the 130-AB threshold to surpass rookie status. That didn't render him ineligible, and Culpepper did get some down-ballot votes from our panel, but you want a more complete rookie season to evaluate.

Two pitchers gave us that: Connor Prielipp and Andrew Morris. As of late August, it was a close race, with Morris actually in the lead. But the way things finished for both players more than closed the gap, resulting in a near-unanimous selection of Prielipp as Twins Daily's 2026 Rookie of the Year.

Twins Daily 2026 Rookie of the Year Results

1. Connor Prielipp (34 pts, 6 first-place votes)
2. Andrew Morris (27 pts, 1 first-place vote)
3. Kaelen Culpepper (22 pts)
4. Walker Jenkins (3 pts)

Prielipp vs. Morris: A September Swing

Both hurlers arrived earlier than expected this season, debuting in April with their timelines accelerated by injuries in the rotation and bullpen. 

 

Morris opened up with a few rocky outings and then absolutely locked in for a long stretch. From April 30th through August 15th he posted a 2.09 ERA with 45 strikeouts, 18 walks and only two home runs allowed in 47 ⅓ innings. He was a revelation for a needy Twins bullpen alongside waiver find Yoendrys Gómez. But both faded down the stretch and Morris completely cratered, posting a 9.37 ERA with four blown saves, an 0-5 record, and AL-worst negative-1.48 Win Probability Added in his final 17 appearances. 

It was enough to sabotage his case completely, leaving Morris with mediocre final numbers that were still very respectable for a 24-year-old rookie — especially with the context that Morris was transitioning into a short-relief role for the first time, and nearly tripled his previous career high for appearances.

I don't want to downplay the right-hander's season entirely on the basis of that finish. This was an impressive season overall for Morris, and he deserves to be mentioned prominently in this conversation. But Prielipp's finish left little doubt.

There were a lot of ups and downs in Prielipp's rookie season. One of those downs came in August, where he posted a 7.76 ERA and the Twins went 0-5 in his starts. It looked like the oft-injured lefty might be understandably wearing down as ventured into unprecedented workload territory. Then, in September, he was brilliant, posting a 2.36 ERA with one homered allowed in 26 ⅔ frames. The Twins went 4-1 in those five starts. 

It was en electric finish to a rookie season that was better all-around than it might appear on the surface.

More Than Meets the Eye

Even with the strong September, Prielipp's surface numbers don't pop off the page: 4.87 ERA and 6-7 record in 125 innings pitched. But those numbers are weighed down by bad luck and a few clunker outings where he was arguably left in too long. 

Prielipp's 3.73 FIP and 3.95 xERA paint a brighter picture. His 2.0 fWAR ranked third among Twins pitchers, behind only Taj Bradley and Joe Ryan. 

 

Given the southpaw's health history, merely getting through the season healthy was going to be a win. Doing it almost entirely in the majors, while at minimum holding his own and finishing on a dominant note, makes him one of the best stories on this Twins team. 

He ended the year as a bona fide young building block in the rotation, leaving no doubt that he belongs in the big leagues. With a solid workload foundation in place, he'll enter 2027 as one of the organization's most valuable assets, and one of the biggest reasons to believe in its future.

What are your thoughts on the 2026 Twins rookie class? Do you see more of a legit argument for Morris, or even Culpepper? Sound off in the comments.

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[mikelink45]

I will take Culpepper. 

[bean5302]

I agree with Prielipp.

Culpepper still has his rookie status.

[Blyleven2011]

Finally a positive article , thank you …

prielipp had a great month of September and is deserving of the year long effort …

culpepper didn’t pass eligibility for rookie status , so he can continue as a rookie next season , he swings hard and has a good bat , will next season be considered his sophomore year even though he’s still in the rookie stage with less than the qualifying at bats ???