Do the Twins Already have their Lefty Bullpen Arm?

Does he start 2025 at AA Wichita?

I was thinking the same thing Gregg. I thought Prielipp was going to the pen, he might make it to the bigs, he's a LHP, we need a LHRP. You add everything up, it all adds up. His health is my main concern & his control especially having TJ. Committing him to the BP is a step in the right direction. Hope it all works out because we could really use his stuff, I also put Canterino in that camp. They have to be managed right.

Nash Walker has a video blurb up on Connor Prielipp suggesting his use in the pen, or at least positing that it may be a solution of sorts. 

The Twins have been a little stubborn about keeping Matt Canterino in a starting pitcher role but I think there is a chance to use Prielipp. FWIW, he has great stuff in the half dozen outings I saw last summer via milb.com

I like this idea ...

Preillip and canterino are getting older and probably have the best stuff ...

Because of injuries the haven't pitched alot of innings in the minors  , I'm ready to see these two as bullpen options sometime in 2025 .

Like the article said crochet went right to the bullpen for Chicago  , so because there getting older , it's worth the risk to see what they can accomplish and develop in a major league bullpen to limit their innings , doesn't have to be pressure situations , their pitches are major league ready , so let them pitch to major league ball players  ...

I am all for letting him work out of the pen and giving him some high level opportunities.  However we have to remember that any really good D1 player is going to do well in A ball.  He hasn’t got anybody out in AA or above so the idea that he is going to help the big league club this year is a long shot.

6 minutes ago, Linus said:

He hasn’t got anybody out in AA or above so the idea that he is going to help the big league club this year is a long shot.

It is totally a long shot, perhaps similar to Crochet. I have no idea how Prielipp will do but his pitches should play if his health holds.

I can see him getting more three or four inning starts in AA with a call up to the pen in June.  If he has a future as a starter he can move to the rotation in 2026.  

Most on this board will say "No."

Give the kid a shot in ST and if he earns it, call him up May 1st to delay his MLB clock and let others fail... [insert sarcasm emoji here]

8 hours ago, Danchat said:

It does make me wonder, if Prielipp is already on the verge of helping the major league team with only 30 minor league innings under his belt, why do most prospects need to spend so much time developing, at least when it comes to college arms like Prielipp? Clearly he has some special stuff given how highly he was drafted, but it makes me wonder if some college pitchers were moved to the bullpen quicker we could see more MLB results compared to the usual struggles of minor league pitchers becoming viable starters and waiting until year 2-4 of their careers to move them to the pen.

But it's a no-nonsense move to put him and Canterino in the pen at this point in their careers, they are likely to never have the durability to make it as starters. Might as well extract what you can from their dynamic arms while they are healthy.

I think as stated that there is still a chance to make Prielipp  a starter down the road because he is only 24 years old, But Canterino is 4 years older and he was overused in college by Rice and that is why he has had continual are issues.  Rice University baseball has a history of doing this to young developing arms.

9 hours ago, Danchat said:

It does make me wonder, if Prielipp is already on the verge of helping the major league team with only 30 minor league innings under his belt, why do most prospects need to spend so much time developing, at least when it comes to college arms like Prielipp? Clearly he has some special stuff given how highly he was drafted, but it makes me wonder if some college pitchers were moved to the bullpen quicker we could see more MLB results compared to the usual struggles of minor league pitchers becoming viable starters and waiting until year 2-4 of their careers to move them to the pen.

But it's a no-nonsense move to put him and Canterino in the pen at this point in their careers, they are likely to never have the durability to make it as starters. Might as well extract what you can from their dynamic arms while they are healthy.

Building up innings at a major level wastes cost controlled years. Unfortunate for the player. 

Canterino comes up in May, Prielipp in July.  LOve it.

Still believe Prielipp is a future starter, but this is a great idea in 2025.

The unfortunate reality for the Twins is that they do not have the budget to build a team in the same way as the larger market/budget organizations. 2025 will sink or swim based on the health of the big 3 on offense, the continued development of young veterans, and the emergence of rookies. 
In terms of rookies, Prielipp sits along side of Lee, Rodriguez, Festa, Matthews, Raya, … as potential breakout contributors. Personally I have no problem with any young pitcher getting his MLB career under way in the BP. To me it is similar to Lee and Lewis, minor league SS’s getting started at different positions. It will work itself out if they have ML ability. 

I saw Connor Prielipp pitch on two occasions for Cedar Rapids, at home and at Davenport, and it's easy to buy into the hype.   His stuff is electric.   His 23.1 innings pitched in 2024 at three levels with the Twins is nearly any many IP in his entire college career at Alabama (21 IP in 2020-then COVID; 7 IP in 2021 then TJ surgery.)   The last time the kid pitched more than 50 innings in one season was his junior year in high school in Tomah, WI (2018.)  All of this is not a lot to go off of for an evaluation, but what is there so far, I know has the Minnesota Twins (and fans like me) salivating.     Like Greggory said, the Twins took a gamble when they drafted him, so think of Prielipp as a lottery ticket...and the ping pong balls that have dropped so far are looking pretty good.     Could the rest fall this season?   I sure hope so.

If Prielipp pitches well at AA and AAA for the first two months, regardless of whether it’s as a starter or BP, I would like to see him with the Twins. Let him throw 60 pitches as a starter and give him some experience in the major leagues. 

I say put Prelipp and Canterino in the pen and see how they do in ST. Maybe they earn an opening day place in the pen. If not, let them earn it in AA or AAA. 

Like most Twins players he is a "Hope and a Prayer". You Hope he is good enough to play at the major league level and Pray it is good enough to keep him there.

It would be nice if we don’t waste bullets on below average vets that turnstile from team to team. Weather Preillip goes to the pen or Raya/Adams/Canterino, we need to get these young guys to the majors at some point and see who will stick. Every prospect has a unique timeline and Preillip isn’t any different. Its a little surprising that he has been dealing with the same injury for 4 years and it didn’t get fixed sooner. Hopefully its finally behind him and he gets his shot this season!  

Johan Santana began his Twins career as a Rule 5 pick out of the BP.  I think guys like Doc Gast and Lambchop and others who mention Prielipp and Canterino in the same breath are on the same wave-length as me.  

I see two young guys (Prielipp the younger) who have electric stuff but health hurdles.  Moving them to the BP is not a guarantee of health, but it IS a way to carefully manage their pitches/innings.  I also do not believe that either of them needs to spend a LOT more time in the minors polishing this, and refining that.  

Yes, they do need some time down there, neither of them will break camp with the Twins, but the idea of having Canterino up some time in May and Prielipp after the All Star Game (if healthy and doing well) is a plan I wholeheartedly endorse.

And the idea that if either of them starts in the BP with the Twins, they will never, ever be a SP is being proven wrong more and more with guys like Crochet, Lugo, Reynaldo Lopez, Hicks etc...Heck, the Twins even considered moving Griffin Jax.  Starting off in the BP is not a death sentence.  But it can be a quicker ticket to the Big Leagues.   

I remember a pitcher with the Twins when I was a kid named Tommy Hall.  He was REALLY slender, so they nicknamed him "The Blade."  In 1969 he made a couple of spot starts for the Twins when Dean Chance battled some injuries.  In 1970, he was set to be in the BP again (he really had swing and miss stuff).  Luis Tiant when down after 10 starts and 20-game winner Dave Boswell just couldn't reclaim his 1969 magic.  

So the Twins called up a very young Bert Blyleven to replace Boswell in the rotation and moved Hall in to replace Tiant.  Hall threw 155 innings, K'd 184 guys (184 !!) and won 11 games.  Once again, a guy who was brought up who had started in the minor leagues was fast tracked to the big leagues as a relief pitcher, but found himself in the rotation eventually.  Bringing a guy up and starting him out in the pen doesn't mean that is the only outcome.