Jamie Cameron

If the Triple-A season were a round of golf, Kaelen Culpepper might be two under par through the first five holes. It’s not been a scorching start, but he’s within touching distance of a great front nine. Botched metaphor aside, Culpepper has surpassed 30 games at St. Paul, so it’s time to dig into his numbers and make some initial assessments of his performance. Upon first glance, it’s a solid start. Through 34 games, Culpepper is hitting .250/.335/.465, with 8 home runs among 15 extra-base hits. He’s walking a healthy 10.4% of the time, and striking out just 20.1% of the time, good for a 103 wRC+ through the first month-plus of games. Not bad. Let’s start with Culpepper’s bat-to-ball skills. Is he making enough contact? Definitely. Culpepper is running an overall contact rate of 79.2% (on the high end of average for a big leaguer). His in-zone contact rate is 89.5% (an average big-leaguer hovers around 85%). Why is this significant? Well, Culpepper’s data hasn’t been widely publicly available since he debuted in 2024. Additionally, before 2026, he hadn’t played a game at the Triple-A level. This is his first month at the doorstep of the majors, which makes what we've seen so far really encouraging stuff. Coming out of college, scouting reports had mixed reviews on Culpepper’s ability to hit for power. He wasn’t a prolific power hitter in college, maxing out at 11 home runs in his junior season in an environment that maximizes offensive production. Conversely, it was a pretty right-handed swing with good bat speed that looked geared towards maximizing pull-side loft. How is all that playing out in Lowertown? Pretty well, so far. After clubbing 20 home runs in 113 MiLB games in 2025, Culpepper has 8 more through 31 in 2026, with those 15 extra-base hits overall. His exit velocity numbers look solid, too. He’s currently running an average EV of 91 mph, with a MaxEV of 110.2 mph. We can shoehorn those numbers confidently into a 50-55 power grade, good for somewhere in the range of 20-26 home runs in a given season. Culpepper is hitting the ball hard with regularity, running a hard-hit rate of 48.2%, well above the major-league average of around 38%. Ok, so far, so good. What about that pesky ground ball rate though? Culpepper ran a ground ball percentage of 50% in 2025—problematically high, no matter how hard you hit the ball or how solid your bat-to-ball skills are. He’s cut that significantly in the early going in 2026. It’s currently sitting at 43.2%, in the region of where it should be, with an average launch angle of 12.4°. Far too rosy a picture so far, right? There has to be a bugaboo in this increasingly solid-looking offensive profile? Well, there is. Culpepper chases a lot. His current rate sits at 31.1%, which is high enough that it could expose him a bit in the majors. It’s not crippling, though. For context, there are around 100 big-league hitters who currently have a higher chase rate. Culpepper has always chased. He was an aggressive swinger in college. That’s a trait the Twins aren’t afraid of drafting. It’ll likely always be part of his game. How he’s chased has changed, though, which is a development worth spending a moment on. The scouting report is out on Culpepper. Breaking and off-speed stuff, down and away. Here’s the simplest visual possible, the number of pitches he’s been thrown at Triple-A to date, by zone location. That’s a lot down and away. Here’s the good news, though. While Culpepper is still chasing a lot, he’s chasing less down and away, and more inside. Why is that helpful? Inside is Culpepper’s nitro zone. Peep the visual below, which shows Culpepper’s slugging percentage by zone location. If you’re going to chase, chase where you can do damage, and show that it's a result of having honed your focus on one productive part of the strike zone, rather than a result of being defensive or deceived. Through the end of the week-long series in Vegas, Culpepper was running a .269 BABIP. There’s not much about his contact skills, quality of contact, or batted-ball profile to suggest there’s some underlying issue here. In short, despite his solid 103 wRC+, I think Culpepper is about to heat up and produce more. The Twins are encouraged by Culpepper’s play at shortstop. He’d easily be the Twins' best defensive infielder right now. I feel relatively confident calling him likely to be an average big-league shortstop (complimentary), if not slightly better. His arm will allow the skill set to work excellently at third base, too (don’t tell Royce, anyone). If his first 34 games at Triple-A can be relied on, Culpepper can soon fill several voids the Twins desperately need him to. An above-average defensive infielder, and at the very least, a solid, two-win, everyday player. In another 30 games or so, I expect him to be knocking on the door a little more loudly.

This guide is a comprehensive look at the 2026 MLB Draft with a focus on the Minnesota Twins. You’ll find a list of key dates for the draft cycle, including the release of bonus pools and pick values, the MLB Draft combine, and a breakdown of the draft itself. Additionally, you’ll find an overview of the draft combine and MLB draft weekend, in addition to links to other important draft resources like the consensus board. Twins 2025 MLB Draft Recap The Twins picked in the middle of the first round in 2025. After a run on up-the-middle prep bats, Minnesota opted for glove-first shortstop Marek Houston out of Wake Forest with the 16th overall pick. The Twins leaned into velocity in drafting college arms earlier than in previous years. They nabbed Alabama righty Riley Quick with their Comp A pick (36th), DBU flamethrower James Ellwanger in the third round, and ent-like righty Jason Reitz (6’11) in the fourth round. The Twins added some additional prep bats with upside, selecting towering, power-forward infielder Quenton Young (nephew of Delmon and Dmitri) in the second round (54th overall) and Bruin Agbayani out of Hawaii, a hit-first infielder, in the 6th round (179th). When Is The 2026 MLB Draft? April 1st 2026 - MLB announced draft bonus pools and pick values June 2026 - MLB Draft Combine (Chase Field, Arizona) July 11th - 12th: 2026 MLB Draft (Philadelphia, PA) July 11th - Rounds 1-4 (time TBA) July 12th - Round 5 through Round 20 (time TBA) 2026 MLB Draft Combine The draft combine is a newer event that started in the 2021 draft cycle. Held over a five-day period around a month before the draft itself, it serves as an opportunity for prospects to showcase their talents and boost their draft stock, while giving organizations better access to potential picks. In addition to medical examinations and educational programming, players have an opportunity to meet with teams in advance of the draft. Additionally, there are a number of televised workouts, featuring infield and outfield drills, batting practice for hitters, and bullpens for pitchers, all of which is tracked and underpinned by Statcast data. There is an incentive for players to attend and complete medicals, as prospects are guaranteed 75 percent of their draft slot bonus if they participate and complete medicals. How Many Rounds Are There In The MLB Draft? There is yet another design shift ahead of the 2026 draft cycle. It was shortened from a three-day event to a two-day event. Previously, day one included rounds 1 through the supplemental second round, day two included rounds 3 through 10, and day three included rounds 10 through 20. For the 2026 cycle, day one will be adjusted to include rounds one through four (~135 picks). The draft will conclude on day two with rounds five through twenty. MLB Draft Day One Explained The first day of the draft can be chaotic as there are additional rounds and picks in play beyond rounds one and two. The top of the draft (top 6 picks) is now determined by the draft lottery. Every non-playoff team is entered into the lottery, giving them the opportunity to move up in the draft order. Non-lottery eligible teams pick in the order they are eliminated from the postseason, with regular-season record-breaking ties. After the first round, prospect promotion incentive picks take place. If an eligible player wins Rookie of the Year, they earn their organization an extra pick immediately after the completion of the first round. Next come compensation picks, where teams who extend the qualifying offer to a player (who rejects it) earn an additional draft pick. Compensation pick positions depend on the contract size signed by the player rejecting the qualifying offer, in addition to the payroll of the organization receiving them (there are additional compensation picks after competitive balance round B and the fourth round). After any compensation picks, comes the competitive balance round A. Teams that have one of the ten smallest markets or ten smallest revenue pools receive an additional pick in round A or round B, on an annually rotating basis. The first day of the draft is capped by the second round, competitive balance round B, and the third round, which typically takes us through approximately 100 picks. MLB Draft Bonus Pool Allocations & Pick Values Prior to the draft, in April, MLB announces each team's bonus pool for the forthcoming draft cycle and pick values for every pick in the top ten rounds of the draft. Each pick in the first ten rounds of the draft is assigned a value, with the total of the slots for the picks each organization has in the top ten rounds comprising their total ‘bonus pool’. Organizations can sign a player to a deal greater than a slot or less than a slot, depending on their negotiations with the player, so it’s useful to think of the slots as ‘guidelines’ and little more. Organizations are allowed to spend up to 5% more than their total pool without incurring a penalty, a choice many teams take advantage of. The Twins and the Rockies are the only teams that have never spent any overage on their bonus pool. Any amount up to 5% over the pool is met with a 75% tax on the overage. If a team spends between 5-10% more than their pool, the penalty is 75% tax on the overage and loss of a future first-rounder. Any team that exceeds its bonus pool by more than 10% up to 15% pays 100% tax on the overage and will lose a first and second-round future pick. Any team that exceeds its bonus pool by more than 15% loses two future first-round picks in addition to paying 100% tax on the overage. Rounds 11-20 work differently from the first half of the draft. These picks do not come with an assigned slot value. Teams can spend up to $150,000 per pick without that spending coming out of their bonus pool. If they spend over that amount, any overage will be deducted from their bonus pool. For example, an 11th-round pick signing for $250,000 will result in $100,000 being subtracted from that team’s bonus pool. This is where some financial strategy comes into play. Often, teams will look to accrue some ‘savings’ from their bonus pool so they can spend over the maximum of $150,000 for a prospect in the second half of the draft. The first day of the draft is capped by the second round, competitive balance round B, and the third and fourth rounds, which typically takes us through approximately 135 picks. NOTE: Slot values increased by 2.5% from 2025 to 2026. View Twins Mock Draft Board Twins 2026 MLB Draft Bonus Pool Round Pick Slot Value Round 1 3rd $9,740,100 Round 2 43rd $2,333,200 Comp B 74th $1,138,600 Round 3 79th $1,052,700 Round 4 107th $733,100 Round 5 139th $536,900 Round 6 168th $406,800 Round 7 197th $319,600 Round 8 227th $253,300 Round 9 257th $215,400 Round 10 287th $199,900 Total Bonus Pool Allocation $16,929,600 (4th in MLB)

It’s starting to warm up in the Twin Cities. Slowly, but surely, it’s feeling more like spring. On Tuesday, the Saints put on an offensive showcase, decimating Iowa Cubs pitching to the tune of six home runs. Here’s some of what I noticed at CHS Field. Emmanuel Rodriguez I wrote about Rodríguez in-depth last week. If you missed that piece, here are the headlines; he’s chasing a bit more and swinging at strikes much more. That’s the kind of tradeoff you have to make if you don’t have great bat-to-ball skills, as major-league pitchers will throw too many quality strikes for a hitter to be passive. Rodríguez has also closed his stance slightly at the plate, helping with the directionality and rotation of his swing. After a quiet week last week, everything was working for Rodriguez on Tuesday. After taking a sweeper low for ball one, Rodriguez hit a 118.3 mph nuke to right field on the next pitch, a 93-mph cutter that Ethan Roberts left over the heart of the plate. That’s the hardest-hit ball in Minor League Baseball in 2026. It’s the second-hardest anywhere, behind only Oneil Cruz. Rodríguez is Cruz, with a much smaller strike zone and better defensive instincts. The process here is as good as the outcome for Rodríguez, who didn't allow Roberts back into the at-bat after getting ahead. He repeated the trick in his next trip, this time taking a Trent Thornton sinker on the outer half out of the park for his second home run of the game, raising his OPS to .945 on the season. Surely a call up is imminent. Kaelen Culpepper Kaelen Culpepper has been mired in his first Triple-A slump. He busted out of it in a big way on Tuesday. Jordan Wicks left a curveball up on the inner third, and Culpepper took into the bullpen for his fourth home run of the year. After going down 0-2 to Jace Beck in his third at-bat, Culpepper took three consecutive balls before taking a 94 mph fastball out for his second home run of the day, at 103 mph off the bat. Culpepper has cut his groundball rate significantly in 2026 (from 50% to roughly 38%), and his ability to pull the ball may lead to his power production outpacing his raw power. The one area I’d monitor with Culpepper is his chase rate, which sits around 30%. From my looks this season, he’s been more prone to chase early in counts and often does a great job of battling back in his plate appearances. That approach will be more challenging in the majors. Walker Jenkins Walker Jenkins (who turned 21 two months ago) has had a slow start for St. Paul. If you peek under the hood, though, everything looks extremely promising. He’s running an in-zone contact rate of 92% (87% overall) and chasing only 16% of the time, leading to a robust 16% walk rate. He’s hitting the ball harder, too. He’s added to both his average EV and max EV. That’s encouraging, given that the main knock on Jenkins has been a lack of in-game power. It’s likely that facet of his game won’t be fully formed for a while yet. So why the slow start? Jenkins has had much more of a ground-ball problem this year. He’s swinging about 8% less overall. My theory is that he’s a little passive, and getting into some counts that result in poor quality of contact. He’s never had a ground-ball issue, though, so this isn’t something I’d stew over. He crushed a 107-mph double off lefty starter Wicks in the first inning. I expect the production to catch up to the process pretty soon. Gabriel Gonzalez If I don’t include González, I’ll get yelled at. He had a great game, too. After a single in the first inning off Wicks, he took a slider down and in deep for a home run at a 104-mph EV in his second at-bat. González consistently crushes any breaking pitch inside that isn’t buried. Notably, González was playing first base for the Saints today. Even though he’s had a slower start offensively, he’s already up to 7 home runs on the season. González has a combination of skills I consider dangerous for a hitter. He has excellent bat-to-ball skills, both in and out of the strike zone, and he chases a ton (39%). My fear for him is, he’ll need to rein in some of his aggressiveness in the majors, or he’ll generate a ton of weak contact. In the right role, though, he can be a dangerous hitter.

Welcome to the 2026 MLB Consensus Draft Board. This is the fifth version of the board, which started in 2022 as a top 30. Since then, it’s expanded to around 150 players on an annual basis, featuring at eight different team sites. So what is the Consensus Board? How is it made? How should it be used? The concept is loosely based on Arif Hasan’s NFL Consensus Board. It’s meant to be a tool for folks getting interested in the MLB Draft. As I was learning about the draft, I struggled to navigate wildly varied rankings and evaluations of players. The Consensus Board takes every major publicly available board and combines them into a consensus ranking, eliminating some of the noise and variance of an extremely challenging evaluation process. We’ve found this process to be useful in ranking players in appropriate ranges through the first five (or so) rounds of the draft. On the board, you’ll find player names, handedness, listed height and weight, age, and a write-up, walking through their strengths and weaknesses as a prospect. As we go through the cycle, these will be updated with tweaks, final college stats, and more. Every time a major outlet (Baseball America, ESPN, The Athletic, etc.) releases an updated list, the consensus ranking shifts. As such, the board is a lagging reflection of what the industry thinks of the class and its key players. The final Consensus Board will incorporate at least 10 other boards as inputs. New MLB Mock Draft Board Features There are a few important features to point out to help you navigate the board. There’s a search bar to help you find players of interest. If you click ‘expand,’ the board will focus on the writeup you are engaged with, in addition to one immediately above it and one immediately below it. Additionally, you’ll find the logo of your team next to their draft slots to help understand where they are picking. There will be a player slotted there, based on their consensus ranking. Rather than using that ranking as an indicator of who they might actually pick, it’s more useful to use it as a proxy for what caliber of talent is available at that slot. We’ll dig in deeper to team-specific mock drafts later in the cycle. The last important note is that this year, the board features ‘push’ updates. It updates automatically every hour. The board is typically updated with new write-ups five days per week, so check back regularly. At #3, The Minnesota Twins Select: Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara Flora pitched behind No. 2 overall pick Tyler Bremner in 2025, and returns a year later to headline the Gauchos' rotation, himself a contender to be a top-three pick. Flora has an ideal frame for a starter, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 205 pounds, with some additional strength still to be added. After pitching primarily as a reliever as a freshman, Flora took on a starting role as a sophomore and thrived, managing a 3.15 FIP in 75 innings, while striking out close to 28% of the hitters he faced. The stuff is loud. Flora primarily relies on a fastball, slider, and changeup combination, though he does access a cutter and curveball occasionally, too. It's a high-spin fastball (up to 2,600 RPM), topping out at 100 MPH from a low release height. Flora throws two iterations of his slider, a harder version around 87 mph, and a sweeper that generates 19 inches of horizontal movement. To add to this intriguing arsenal, Flora has been an excellent strike thrower in college, walking just 5.5% of hitters in 2025. Flora has separated himself as SP1 early in the 2026 cycle. There's room for development and refinement of his pitch shapes and arsenal, but this is front-of-the-rotation arm talent and upside. At the moment, he's the type of player Twins fans can expect the team to be discussing when they're on the clock this July. Demographically, he'd be an unusual choice for this team, but then again, the front office has undergone some major changes recently. It's a whole new world.

There’s a triumvirate of top-100 hitting prospects playing at CHS Field this spring, on one of Minor League Baseball’s most offensively loaded teams. Naturally, Twins fans are wondering who will debut first. In the early going, Emmanuel Rodriguez has been the most productive and looks the most ready. What’s fueled his incandescent April? A change in approach and setup at the plate. We’ll start with his setup at the plate. Rodríguez has closed his batting stance this year. Slight camera angle differences aside, notice the difference in his setup in the first image (2025) and the second image (2026). What are the potential benefits here? Several, but I want to focus on two; being more closed can help with coverage on the outside part of the plate. Additionally, it can support better hip rotation and directionality with his swing. Both benefits seem to be playing out for Rodríguez through the first month of the season. The outside portion of the plate (down and away) has been a weak spot for Rodríguez, throughout his professional career. Since he hits the ball so dang hard, we’ll use quality of contact as a proxy for his ability to do damage. In 2025, Rodríguez averaged 84.4 mph on batted balls in that quadrant of the zone, good for a .353 slugging percentage. In 2026, it’s 94.3 mph, resulting in a 1.000 slugging percentage at the time of writing. In order to examine the second contention, we need to revisit 2025. Rodríguez had a weird year. He played 52 games at Triple-A, and managed a 134 wRC+ despite only rocking a .166 ISO. For context here, a .140 ISO is around league average. Rodríguez, who will always strike out at an above-average rate, has a power-reliant offensive profile, so sitting at such a low mark was discouraging. He simply wasn’t launching the baseball in 2025. He carried a 51.6% ground-ball rate. Below, you can see his launch angles by zone from last year. Insert sad trombone. The newly closed stance has ameliorated that issue in 2026. While it’s only 16 games, his ground-ball rate is just 31.6%, which has allowed him to tap into a .263 ISO. Peep the launch angles by zone in 2026. That’s looking much more productive. If you want more evidence, he recently hit the hardest ball in St. Paul Saints history (117.1 mph), and he leads all Triple-A players ages 23 and under in EV90, at 110.8 mph. Those numbers probably won’t hold, but they're both markers of top-of-the-scale power. In short, this is the potential 30-home run bat Twins fans have been dreaming of. We should also discuss some changes Rodríguez has made in his approach at the plate. Describing his plate discipline binary pithily as ‘patience or passivity’ has become a staple of our analysis of Rodríguez since he became a notable prospect. Through the first month of the season, he’s made some swing decision tweaks that might finally help put that phrase to bed. In his 52-game 2025 Triple-A sample, Rodríguez swung at 38.1% of pitches. That's as low as anyone goes in MLB. Only Taylor Ward and Juan Soto swung less often in the majors last year. That’s not necessarily a problem, in and of itself, but it’s easy for that lack of aggression to quickly become an impediment. How would this play out disadvantageously? Hypotheticaly, Rodríguez would be waiting for his perfect pitch and quickly get into 0-2 or 1-2 counts. Without elite bat-to-ball skills in his back pocket, he’s in challenging counts too often to be consistently productive. What’s different in 2026? In short, he’s swinging more. His overall swing percentage is up from 37.7% to 44.4%. That's a level at which he's defending the strike zone much more robustly. Rodríguez is swinging at pitches in the zone around 10% more in the early going in 2026. While that has resulted in a higher chase percentage (17.3% in 2025; 23.9% in 2026), this is a trade worth making, because it was such an absurdly low mark to begin with. If Rodríguez carries his current increased chase rate into the majors, it’d still be a top-15 mark in the league. What’s the headline here? Rodríguez is chasing more, but the prize is more of that incredible bat speed directed at hittable pitches earlier in counts. You can see this represented below, with his average exit velocities represented by count. In 2026, we see a greater swath of red earlier in counts. You miss 100% of the swings you don’t take, I guess. How does Rodríguez force himself into the Twins lineup, and at whose expense? That’s a fun discussion, but one for another day. What’s clear is that early in 2026, he’s making the adjustments needed for his specific skillset to thrive in the majors—not just in Triple-A.

Andrew Morris is getting the call. Twins Daily’s #12 prospect is joining the team in Toronto for a three-game road trip. He’s expected to pitch out the bullpen with right-hander Cody Laweryson being placed on the injured list. Morris was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of Texas Tech (114th overall). After making short work of the lower minors in 2023, he spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A dealing with injuries and searching for consistency. After throwing 94 2/3 innings for St. Paul in 2025 (4.09 ERA, 4.14 FIP), he looked good in two outings (7 1/3 IP) in 2026 (1.23 ERA, 2.93 FIP). Morris has been a consistent strike thrower throughout the minor leagues, maintaining walk rates that oscillated between 4.5% and 8%. As for the pitch mix Morris will bring to the table, he’ll throw up to six pitches in a kitchen sink type approach. He throws all three fastball shapes, his four-seamer sitting 95 mph and topping out at 98 mph. Morris also mixes in a slider (84 mph), a slower curveball (75 mph), and a firm changeup (89 mph). While Morris’ production has been consistently effective throughout his minor league career, he began to generate less swing and miss in the upper levels of the minors, raising doubts about whether he can start in the majors (he's neither a pronator or a supinator, leading to a lack of outlier vertical or horizontal movement on his pitches). Getting an opportunity to contribute in the bullpen is the perfect introduction for Morris. The role should allow his stuff to play up and give him the best possible chance to succeed while adjusting to major league hitting. In addition, Ryan Kreidler is taking Royce Lewis's spot on the 26-man roster. Lewis is out with a knee sprain.

Bonus pools were announced for the 2026 MLB Draft on Wednesday. The Minnesota Twins are in great shape ahead of July, for what promises to be a class rich in both impact talent and depth. The Twins have the fourth-highest bonus pool total, at $16,929,600, behind only the Pirates, Rays, and White Sox. Slot values have increased 2.5% from 2025. The Twins' bonus pool is heavily weighted toward the No. 3 overall pick, which comes with a slot value of $9,740,100. In a strong class, Minnesota is likely to have several good options, including prep shortstop Grady Emerson, UC Santa Barbara ace Jackson Flora, or impact college bats like Justin Lebron, Vahn Lackey, or AJ Gracia. Listed below are all 11 of the Twins' slotted picks with their allotted bonus values. 1st Round, 3rd pick: $9,740,100 2nd Round, 43rd pick: $2,333,200 Comp B, 74th pick: $1,138,600 3rd Round, 79th pick: $1,052,700 4th Round, 107th pick: $733,100 5th Round, 139th pick: $536,900 6th Round, 168th pick: $406,800 7th Round, 197th pick: $319,600 8th Round, 227th pick: $253,300 9th Round, 257th pick: $215,400 10th Round, 287th pick: $199,900 Teams can spend up to $150,000 on player bonuses in rounds 11-20, with any amount spent over $150,000 being counted toward their bonus pool. Teams are permitted to spend up to 5% over their total bonus pool, incurring only a tax penalty on the overage. The total they have to spend can be spread around however they'd like, though, so (for instance) if the wealth of options at No. 3 gives them the leverage to sign someone for $7.7 million instead of $9.7 million, they can use the remainder on one or more of their other picks. Typically, teams at the very top of the draft do at least some of this. Last year, the Mariners saved $700,000 against the slot value of the third pick. Over the last four drafts, the top three picks have delivered their teams an average savings of $937,000. However, when the Twins picked fifth in 2023, they were so happy to have Walker Jenkins fall to them that they signed him for the full slot allotment. If you were picking for the Twins today, who would you select at number three overall?

In episode 113 of Destination: The Show, Jeremy and Jamie caught up with Twins left-handed pitching prospect Dasan Hill as he prepares to start Opening Night for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The guys talk with Dasan about his journey through amateur baseball, his draft experience, and his onboarding with the Twins. They move on to discuss his first full pro season in 2025, his goals for 2026, and his reflections on starting the Spring Breakout game and touching 100 mph for the first time. 0:55 Dasan Hill 1:16 Earliest baseball memories 3:44 Process of getting recruited and drafted 6:15 Stuff taking a step forward as a senior of high school 7:55 Getting drafted by the Twins 9:33 What did you know about Minnesota? 11:00 The onboarding process after getting drafted You can support the show by downloading it from wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and Spotify. If you enjoy the content, consider leaving us a five-star rating and review in addition to sharing or retweeting DTS-related content. You can follow us on Twitter @DTS_POD1, @Jeremynygaard, @J_D_Cameron, and @TheodoreTollef1. We’re now on Bluesky @destinationtheshow.bsky.social. You can also find full episodes and clips of our shows on our YouTube page @DestinationTheShow.

The Twins' performance in the international market in the Derek Falvey era is largely pinned on Emmanuel Rodriguez. Despite missing significant time due to a litany of injuries in recent seasons, Rodriguez has performed well at every MiLB pitstop. It's a rare combination of exceptional on-base ability, eye-popping power, and strong supplementary tools being balanced out by significant concerns around his hit tool. Emmanuel Rodriguez Age: 23 (DOB: 02/28/2003) Bats/Throws: L/L 2025 Stats (CPX, A, Triple-A): 267 PA, .269/.431/.409, 9 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 10 SB ETA: 2026 2025 Ranking: #2 National Top 100 Rankings BP: 48 | MLB: 74 | ATH: 57 | BA: 57 | ESPN: 97 Personally, I went back and forth on Kaelen Culpepper and Rodriguez in this spot several times. If you want stability and floor, Culpepper is the guy. If you want the only Twins prospect not named Walker Jenkins who is capable of a 3-4 win season, E-Rod should be number two. His drop, more than anything else, is indicative of a prospect whose only averaged 70 MiLB games played in a three-season span between 2023-2025. What to Like Rodriguez has one of the weirdest, most fascinating offensive profiles in baseball. With impressive assets only matched by the magnitude of his flaws. He’s a patient hitter, running a 37% overall swing rate in the minors in 2025. That’s Juan Soto level selectivity. We also don’t have a ton of examples of guys with a matching number in the majors. Luckily for Rodriguez, his patience is the product of a fantastic eye at the plate. He walked 20.6% of the time in 2025, contributing to a whopping .430 OBP. The Twins have worked with Rodriguez on being more aggressive on pitches thrown over the heart of the zone, to avoid leveraged counts. It’s difficult to ascertain how successfully he’s managed it, given his limited time on the field There’s impressive power to go with his ability to get on base. Rodriguez put up max exit velocities in the 115 mph range in 2025 and has been up as high as 117 mph in his MiLB career. There’s 30 home run power in there, potentially. Rodriguez’s isolated power fell significantly from 2024 (.287) to 2025 (.139). That falloff doesn’t line up with how hard E-Rod hits the ball. For now, I think we can attribute that to constant interruptions to his playing time, until that’s a pattern that continues into 2026. What's Left to Work On? Let’s talk about the issues. Aside from health, Rodriguez’s hit tool has some major red flags. There’s some holes in his swing at the top of the zone, and the bat-to-ball numbers are suspect. The overall contact rate (67%) is poor for a high-caliber prospect at AAA. It’s particularly bad out of the strike zone (33.8%). This led to a 31.8% strikeout rate in 2025. You can see how this might play out in the majors; a patient power hitter with poor contact skills gets into too many leveraged counts, and increasingly swings through elite big-league stuff. There are some valuable supplementary tools in the bag here, too. E-Rod is a good defensive centerfielder. Not in the way Byron Buxton is, in which elite speed contributes to outstanding range. Rodriguez gets good jumps and has outstanding body control. It’s backed by a big arm, too. It’s a similar defensive projection to Walker Jenkins; solid-to-good in centerfield, potentially great in a corner spot. What to Look for in 2026 The version of E-Rod who puts it all together is a scary prospect. It’s a .230 hitter with 30 bombs, 25 bags, playing a premium defensive position. Sadly, we’ve yet to see that version play out over the course of a minor league season. He’ll debut in 2026 and should be the prospect in this top ten who hits the majors first, health permitting. Rodriguez’s having a strong year would do wonders for the Twins, who retain a massive yet deeply inspiring menagerie of left-handed hitting outfielders on their 40-man roster. There’s an unusually wide range of outcomes here for a prospect already in AAA. Let’s hope 2026 is the year health, performance, and opportunity match up neatly for a Twins top prospect.