Twins Daily 2026 Top Prospects: #16-20

Tonight, we begin our look at the 2026 Twins Daily Top Prospects rankings series with a quick look at prospects 16-20. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll count down to our choice for Twins top prospect.  

With that said, the odds of an MLB future increase as we jump into the Top 20 of our list. In today’s group of five players, we find an intriguing group that includes players whose careers have been affected by injury. 

20. James Ellwanger, RHP

Age: 21
2025 Stats (NCAA): 63 1/3 IP, 3.98 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 13.5 K/9, 5.5 BB/9
Back in 2023, Ellwanger was completing his high school career in Texas. That  senior season, he had a 1.30 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 76 1/3 (14.6 K/9). One of the top five prospects in Texas, he started receiving phone calls in the second and third rounds. However, his name wasn’t called until the Nationals made him their 19th round pick. That made the decision much easier to attend Dallas Baptist. He pitched in 17 2/3 innings over eight starts. In the first inning of his first college game, he hit 99 mph with his fastball. He did miss nearly two months with a flexor strain (which is noteworthy). He went to The Cape that summer and had 22 strikeouts and five walks over 13 innings. 

In 2025, 14 of his 16 appearances came as a starter. He went 4-2. In 63 1/3 innings, he had 95 strikeouts and 39 walks. The walks will clearly have to be decreased. However, his 13.5 K/9 ranked in the Top 10 of all Division I pitchers, one spot behind Kade Anderson, the third overall pick last year out of LSU.   

Along with the mid-to-upper-90s (with carry and run), Ellwanger has a good slider in the mid-80s and a low-80s curveball. Both have shown to be potentially plus pitches for the right-hander. He’s also thrown a mid-80s changeup, but it is still a work-in-progress. He has a strong, 6-5, 220 pound frame. The Twins development staff will work with him on the technical “stuff” in an attempt to throw more consistent strikes. It is likely he will begin his professional career as a starting pitcher 

19. Khadim Diaw, C/CF

Age: 22
2025 Stats (A+): 169 PA, .297/.450/.445, 5 2B, 4 HR, 24 RBI
Khadim Diaw attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, the same school that current MLB stars Hunter Greene and Giancarlo Stanton attended. Many former MLB and NFL players went there and learned with dozens upon dozens of actors and actresses that we watch on our TVs. Jerry Matters and Ed Begley Jr went there, and so did Kirsten Dunst, Rami Malek, and one of my first teenage crushes, Staci Keanan. Hopefully within the next  couple of years, Twins fans will have the opportunity to watch Diaw play on TV for several years. 

Sidenote: Diaw’s mom played softball at Yale in the 1980s. She’s now the department chair of anthropology at Cal State-Northridge. Isma Diaw, Khadim’s father, has been in the States for over 30 years as a post-graduate student and a product engineer. He began his own consulting company which has him splitting time between the US and his hometown of Dakar, Senegal. If Khadim gets to the big leagues, he will be the first player from Senegal. He would be the second player from the continent of Africa to play in the big leagues. For much more on the Diaw family, please take time to read Jeff Johnson’s fantastic article from last summer in The Gazette of Cedar Rapids. 

Diaw stayed close to home and played his college ball at Loyola Marymount. In 2018, he hit .364 (.985) over eight games, but he was able to use a redshirt season. The next year, he played in 52 games and hit .314 (.896) with 11 doubles and eight homers. In 2024, he played in just 20 games for Loyola, but he hit .432/.500/.716 (1.216) with eight doubles, three triples, and three homers. He spent a few weeks in the Cape before the Twins made him their third-round draft pick. He played in 24 games for the Mighty Mussels that summer which allowed him to jump straight to Cedar Rapids in 2025. 

Diaw is an exciting, unique catching prospect. At 6-1 and 215 pounds, he certainly does not fit the “pudge” nickname attributed to many shorter, bulkier backstops. He is a solid defensive backstop, and a really good athlete. In fact, he’s athletic enough that his secondary position is center field. He has the speed and instincts to play out there. That isn’t to say that he’d be an MLB center fielder, but the fact that he can handle the position means that he could find value around the diamond. 

Offensively, he has always hit for average and had the ability to get on base. He’s willing to take walks, and he’s also willing to be hit by a pitch. In 169 total plate appearances in 2025, he was hit by a pitch 18 games. That’s a lot, and one of those pitches cost him two full months with a broken thumb. He did return for one Kernels regular-season game. Back at full strength, Diaw is one of the most intriguing prospects heading into the 2026 season.   

18. CJ Culpepper, RHP

Age: 24
2025 Stats (AA):  54 1/3 IP, 2.65 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 5.0 BB/9
The Rancho Cucamonga native stayed near home and attended California Baptist. He made six appearances in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. In 2021, he worked in 22 games out of the bullpen and went 2-2 with 13 saves. He was named an All American. In 2022, he moved to the startingnd made 14 starts. He went 5-3 with a 3.26 ERA. The Twins used their 13th round pick in 2022 to select Culpepper. 

He split the 2023 season between Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids. Combined, he went 6-5 with a 3.56 ERA. He had 89 strikeouts in 86 innings. Unfortunately, due to arm issues the last two years, he hasn’t topped 60 innings since.

His 2025 season started on the 60-Day Injured List with a pinched nerve. After rehab appearances in the FCL and with Fort Myers, he ended the season with 15 starts for the Wind Surge. 

When healthy, Culpepper is an interesting pitching prospect. When he first signed, he was known to throw seven or eight pitches. Some of that is arm angle or velocity differences. However, he has a very good fastball that sits in the mid-90s but has hit 98 mph. He gets lots of his swings-and-misses on a sharp slider and gets weak content from a cutter. He keeps hitters off balance with a slower curveball and a changeup. Culpepper has good, but not great, control, and with the lack of innings the past couple of years, he makes sense as a three-to-four-innings, twice-per-week pitcher that the Twins have employed the last couple of years. 

17. Kyle DeBarge, 2B/SS/CF

Age: 22
2025 Stats (A+): 542 PA, .237/.347/.362, 23 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 65 RBI, 66 SB
DeBarge played high school ball for Barbe High in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Between 2008 and 2011, the Barbe Bowling team won three out of four state titles. The baseball program has won 11 state championships since 1998. They’ve been named the #1 team in the country a few times including DeBarge’s senior year when they went 39-2. The interesting thing is that in high school, he was a catcher. He went undrafted and attended Louisiana Lafayette and was a three-year starting shortstop for the Ragin’ Cajuns. As a sophomore, he hit .371/.448/.546 (.994) with 15 doubles and seven homers. In 2024, he hit .355/.418/.699 (1.117) with 19 doubles, three triples, and 21 home runs. In those three years, he stole 44 bases in 60 chances. 

With the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 draft, the Twins were thrilled to select and sign the diminutive infielder. He played in 25 games for Fort Myers after the draft. He was then pushed to High-A Cedar Rapids to start the 2025 season and that’s where he spent the full season in Iowa. The Twins selected Kaelen Culpepper earlier in the first round, so he got most of the starts at shortstop. DeBarge started 72 games at second base, 22 games at shortstop, 16 games in center field and four games in left field. Versatility will be an important part of his development, but he was named a minor league Gold Glove winner in 2025 for his work at second base.   

Offensively, it was a bit of a tale of two seasons for DeBarge. In April, his OPS was .864. In May, his OPS was .809. His OPS in June and July were .678 and .687, respectively. Then in August, his OPS was .552. In six games in September, his OPS was .569. This is not unusual. It’s one of those things that all pro players need to figure out for themselves. Presumably the Twins worked with him on an offseason plan to keep him stronger throughout the full season. DeBarge can fill out a state line. He does a solid job of getting on base. He has mostly doubles and gap-to-gap power. I can’t imagine many thought that he would have as many stolen bases as he did. He ended the season with 66 steals in 74 chances. He began the season with 31 straight steals. Through June, he was 43-for-44 in steal attempts. At the end of July, he was 55-for-58. 

16. Hendry Mendez, OF

Age: 22
2025 Stats (AA): 491 PA, .299/.399/.439, 16 2B, 4 3B, 11 HR, 62 RBI
Just 22 years old, Hendry Mendez has been traded twice already in his young career. He originally signed with the Brewers back in 2021 and spent three seasons in the organization. Following the 2023 season, he was dealt with infielder Robert Moore to the Phillies in exchange for infielder Oliver Dunn. At the 2025 trade deadline, Mendez and right-hander Geremy Villoria came to the Twins in the Harrison Bader trade. 

There is a lot to like about Mendez on the baseball field. Physically, he stands at 6-3 and about 200 pounds. He has strength and the belief is that, in time, he will become more of a home run hitter. At this stage of his career, Mendez uses the whole field, puts the ball in play with line drives. In 142 plate appearances with the Wichita Wind Surge, he had 27 walks to just 21 strikeouts. Overall, in 2025, he had 67 walks and 65 strikeouts. In 2024, he had 52 walks and 52 strikeouts. His 11 Double-A home runs in 2025 was just one less than his total over his first four seasons.    

Yes, Mendez is another left-handed hitting outfielder, something the Twins have plenty of, but Mendez provides a contact-first approach at the plate as we await his power to arrive with more consistency. Defensively, he has played both corner spots, and he went to the Arizona Fall League after the 2025 season to, in part, get some work in at first base. Unfortunately a family situation meant he only played in five games before going home to the Dominican. He was added to the Twins 40-man roster and played in most early spring training games.  

Feel free to discuss these prospects and ask as many questions as you like in the COMMENTS below. I will try to get to as many of them as possible.

For more Twins Daily content on these five Twins prospects, click on the link with their name here: Hendry Mendez, Kyle DeBarge, CJ Culpepper, Khadim Diaw, and James Ellwanger.

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!