There's No Way Riley Quick Makes It to the Majors This Season...Right?

Riley Quick is quickly (pun intended) becoming one of the most exciting Twins prospects to watch.

The Twins drafted him with the 36th overall pick in last summer's MLB Draft, and the early returns on that investment have been extremely promising. Across 33 innings between Low-A Fort Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids, the 6-foot-6, 255-pound right-hander owns a 3.27 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He's also racked up a staggering 52 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks.

Even those numbers don't fully capture just how dominant he's been. Quick's strikeout rate currently sits at a ridiculous 40.3%, which ranks fifth among all minor league pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched this season. That's not just good; that's not even just great. What Riley Quick is doing right now simply isn't normal.

Of course, there's a reason he was available at pick #36 to begin with, and it had very little to do with his talent.

Quick tore his UCL during his 2024 season debut at the University of Alabama and underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after. While the injury ultimately pushed him down draft boards, he showed plenty of promise upon returning in 2025, posting a 3.92 ERA over 62 innings.

That's important context because his ability has never been in doubt. The question was always going to be whether he could get healthy and stay healthy. So far, he's answering that question with a resounding yes.

Still, because of that elbow surgery, the Twins may ultimately decide to slow-play him through his development, which would be understandable to an extent.

But what if they didn't?

When the Twins drafted Quick, he already possessed a very impressive three-pitch mix. His fastball was a legitimate weapon, his slider generated lots of whiffs, and his changeup looked like a quality third offering.

If the early results are any indication, all three pitches are still very much playing at a high level. Quick currently owns an outrageous 18.1% swinging-strike rate. For some perspective, fellow highly-touted pitching prospect Dasan Hill (who also has very impressive stuff) sits at 12.8%.

Don’t mistake that as a knock on Hill. It's a testament to just how overwhelming Quick has been. The underlying numbers support that reality.

Riley Quick, the 36th pick in the ‘25 draft, set a new pro career high in strikeouts last night for the @CRKernels and now has a 40.3 K% this season ?

4.2 IP / 4 H / 3 R / 2 BB / 9 K

He topped out at 97.5 MPH and had a 70% whiff rate (7/10) on his SL on the day ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/zxcS3i73eZ

— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) June 12, 2026

At first glance, some might point to Quick's 4.32 ERA at High-A and have some questions. But that’s far from the full story.

His strikeout numbers remain elite, his walk rate is manageable, and much of the damage against him can be attributed to a high BABIP rather than hitters consistently squaring him up. In other words, the stuff is still dominating, and that's what makes this conversation so interesting.

Quick isn't some raw high school arm learning how to pitch for the first time, either. He comes from the SEC, which is widely regarded as the toughest conference in college baseball. Eight of the top 27 picks in last year’s draft class resided from that conference. Quick not only experienced that environment, but he thrived in it, as he struck out more than one of every four batters he faced.

So you've got a pitcher whose stuff is playing at an extremely high level, who appears healthy, and who already owns a track record of success against high-level competition. If I'm the Twins, I want to see what he looks like against Double-A and Triple-A hitters.

Regardless of my personal beliefs, that's not necessarily the route they'll take. Again, the elbow surgery is a factor here. The organization may have innings limits in mind and may prefer a more gradual progression. There's certainly logic behind that approach.

At the same time, it's become increasingly common for organizations to move pitchers quickly through the minor leagues when the performance justifies it. Trey Yesavage of the Blue Jays is a great recent example.

Toronto selected him in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. He opened the 2025 season in Low-A, but his stuff was so dominant that the Blue Jays aggressively challenged him throughout the year.

By this time last season, he had already reached Double-A. By mid-August, he was pitching in Triple-A. He eventually was promoted to the majors and carried that momentum into the postseason, playing a major role in helping Toronto come within one win of a World Series title.

The similarities between Yesavage and Quick are hard to ignore as well. Both are mature college arms, both possess outstanding stuff, both have piled up gaudy strikeout totals, and both entered professional baseball with strong collegiate track records.

The only big difference is that Yesavage didn't have a previous elbow surgery. But if Quick is taking the mound every fifth day, missing bats at an elite rate, and sitting in the mid-90s with his fastball, I'd argue he's feeling pretty good.

This isn't to say the Twins should completely abandon whatever development plan they've established for him; far from it. Player development isn't always linear, and organizations have more information than we do regarding workload, recovery, and long-term projections.

Still, I think it would be a mistake not to see what you've got at, bare minimum, the upper levels of the minor leagues at some point this season. Pitchers with Quick's combination of size, athleticism, velocity, and swing-and-miss ability don't come around very often. 

The Twins may choose to be patient, and that's perfectly reasonable. But if he continues to flat-out overpower hitters, the organization is eventually going to run out of reasons to keep him in the lower levels of the minors.

Will we see Riley Quick make his major league debut in 2026? Probably not, but the odds of that happening are—or at least should be—above zero. And if he keeps pitching like this, those odds are only going to keep climbing.

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!