Jamie Cameron

Spring Training is here. The Twins have a deep farm system ahead of the 2025 season. What are the key questions facing some of their most notable hitting prospects? Let's dig in and find out. Image courtesy of © Chris Tilley-Imagn Images This will be a two-part series: the first on hitters, the second on pitchers. Some of these development steps will seem obvious, others less so. For ease of navigation, prospects have been listed alphabetically. Billy Amick (3B) Can he sustain an improved walk rate? Amick posted a solid .763 OPS in an 18-game professional debut. He’s a power-reliant corner infield bat with hit tool risk. He managed an encouraging 15.6 BB% in his brief stint at Fort Myers. If he can keep it up, he raises his floor as a prospect significantly; a higher OBP would mitigate some of his swing-and-miss challenges. Eduardo Beltre, (OF) What do contact rates and swing decisions look like Stateside? It’s easy to get carried away with Beltre after his 2024 season. After being one of two marquee signings in the Twins' 2024 international free agent class, he hit .326/.453/.618 in the DSL with 11 home runs and a 177 wRC+ in 43 games. Insane! The reality is that there will be an adjustment to baseball Stateside. Beltre will see a dip in his outputs grounded in declining contact rates and a more stern test of his swing decisions. If he can mitigate the dip, the Twins could be onto something. Catchers Who is next in line? OK, this one is cheating, but I stand by it. The Twins don’t have much in the way of prospect depth at the catcher position. Can one of Khadim Diaw, Noah Cardenas, Andrew Cossetti, et al. take a significant step forward? The 2025 Draft has several catchers with first-round grades (look out for Luke Stevenson, Ike Irish, and Caden Bodine, as all three could move quickly through the minors). Kyle DeBarge (INF) Can he get consistent loft with his batted balls? The ‘Sonny Gray’ pick for the Twins at 33rd overall in 2024, DeBarge had a slow start in his pro debut. Despite a .655 OPS in A ball, he showed a discerning eye at the plate, solid swing decisions, and excellent bat-to-ball skills. DeBarge needs to lift the ball more, his average launch angle in 2024 was just 2 degrees. Lift the ball, and prosper. Daiber De Los Santos, (SS) Can he rein in the swing-and-miss? De Los Santos (a 2024 international signee) has a ton of exciting tools, including plus raw power (.460 SLG in the DSL in 2024) and plus speed (17 stolen bases in 47 games). He also has significant swing-and-miss concerns. A 31% strikeout rate before playing in the United States is a legitimate orange flag. He’ll need to continue to improve his approach and/or bat-to-ball skills to have a chance in affiliated ball. Khadim Diaw, C Can he stick behind the plate? Diaw was a young-for-the-class, defensively raw catching prospect taken by the Twins in the third round in 2024. It’s an offensive profile that’s driven by good bat-to-ball skills. He got off to a nice start in a small sample at Fort Myers (114 wRC+). Diaw shows signs of a good approach at the plate. If he can stick behind the dish, he could be a real find. Rayne Doncon, INF Can he keep up the quietly stellar production? Doncon might be the best-kept hitting secret in the Twins system. In 94 games played in 2024 across two levels of A ball, he hit .254/.342/.431, with 11 home runs—good for a 121 wRC+. His walk rate improved (by around 4%), and so did his defense. He's likely to start back at Cedar Rapids and could be one of the fastest risers on industry lists in 2025. Payton Eeles (INF/OF) Will the timing line up for him to get a chance with the big-league club? Eeles is now the worst-kept secret in the minors, thanks to some well-deserved acclaim this offseason. A .425 wOBA (155 wRC+) over 111 MiLB games in 2024 is an incredible accomplishment for an undersized, undrafted prospect. It’s great bat-to-ball skills and an exceptional approach at the plate (14.3 BB%, 14.5 K%), with fringy power. Will his exceptional performance meet with exceptional timing, to give him a chance at some run with the big-league team in 2025? Jaime Ferrer (OF) Can he rein in (slightly) an aggressive approach? Ferrer is a converted catcher who crushed for Florida State in 2024 (22 home runs, 1.083 OPS). After being taken by the Twins in the fourth round in 2024, Ferrer had a good start at Fort Myers (122 wRC+). He doesn’t walk or strike out much. It’s a slightly hyperaggressive approach, with good contact skills and solid power. Walker Jenkins (OF) Is there more power coming? I’m not one to criticize Jenkins for a lack of in-game power in his age-19 season (in which he reached Double A). His 90th-percentile exit velocity was merely average for the level, though. Adding some extra in-game thump is the one remaining question in a well-rounded offensive profile, buoyed by excellent swing decisions and outstanding bat-to-ball skills. Getting to 25-home run power would make Jenkins a superstar. Luke Keaschall (INF/OF) Where is his defensive home? Keaschall has gone from second-round pick to top-75 global prospect in roughly 18 months, hitting everywhere he goes. A slight drop in performance at Double A still brought about a 138 wRC+ (12 BB%, 19 K%, .832 OPS). Keaschall’s throwing was impacted by arm discomfort, which led to his season being cut short by Tommy John surgery. Will he find a home at second base, or is the outfield a more likely defensive home? He has the athleticism for either, the bat will play anywhere. Caden Kendle (INF) Will there be any SLG to back up a strong OBP? Kendle was the Twins' fifth-round pick in 2024 in a draft class that had more bats than expected. His offensive profile is carried by a strong approach and excellent hit tool. He got off to a strong start for Fort Myers in 2024 (118 wRC+, .370 OBP). Is there more impact in his bat than his small-sample .090 ISO suggests? Yasser Mercedes (OF) What does the adjustment to full-season ball look like? Mercedes is another toolsy international prospect who thrived in 2024 after an injury-shortened 2023 campaign. He crushed the complex league (151 wRC+, .989 OPS) in 2023, but looked overmatched (in a minuscule sample) at Fort Myers to end the year. Can he make the necessary adjustments to thrive instead? Carson McCusker (1B/OF) Can he repeat his impressive Double-A performance at Triple A? Carson McCusker stands out in a crowd. He’s 6-foot-8, and another Twins undrafted free agent success story. Despite being relatively old (2025 will be his age-27 season), he’s made his way all the way to Triple-A St. Paul. In 2024, he hit 15 home runs in 98 games at Double A (.846 OPS). The strikeout rate is alarming, but there’s a world where a continuation of his 2024 performance in Triple A and timing meet for him to get a shot with the big-league club. He’ll have to prove it in a larger sample first, though. Ricardo Olivar (C/OF) Can he get back to being an extra-base hitting machine after stalling at Double A? Olivar was tearing up the lower levels of the minors (150 wRC+ at High A), but then reached Double-A Wichita and stalled out. In a small 19-game sample, he managed a .623 OPS, with an increase in strikeouts and a decrease in walks. Olivar doesn’t really have a defensive home (he’s not a catcher and he’s a bad outfielder), so he’ll have to continue to mash when he repeats Double A to remain a viable prospect for the Twins. Dameury Pena (INF) Will his exceptional bat-to-ball skills stand up to A ball? Pena is a hit-tool-only diminutive infielder international signing (remind you of anyone?). It’s truly outlier bat-to-ball skills, who has struck out 18 times in 279 plate appearances over two professional seasons (6.5 K%). Those are Arraezian numbers, but his batting average fell precipitously even moving from the DSL to the FCL. He’ll have to continue to hit, hit, hit if he’s going to keep advancing. Emmanuel Rodriguez (OF) Can he maintain consistent aggressiveness over the heart of the plate? ‘E-Rod’ is a consensus top-25 prospect. His 110-mph 90th-percentile exit velocity last year was the best among any top 100 prospect. His 24.4% walk rate gives him a floor, backed up by above-average speed and better-than-advertised defense. In short, he’s closer to being the Twins' No. 1 prospect than their No. 3. Minnesota has worked with Rodriguez on being aggressive with pitches thrown over the heart of the plate. If he can maintain an optimal swing rate in these zones, he’s going to do damage, no matter how gaudy the strikeout numbers are. Kala’i Rosario (OF) Can his SLG overcome his K%? The 2023 AFL home run derby champ and Midwest League MVP had a 2024 to forget, managing just 67 Double-A games in a season cut short by injury. A strikeout rate north of 30% at that level doesn't bode well for a prospect with little defensive value, even with thump in his bat. If Rosario can’t take a step forward defensively, he’s going to need to be an otherworldly masher to overcome the extreme swing-and-miss in his profile. Brandon Winokur (INF/OF) Will late-season improvements carry over into High A? Winokur did exceptionally well in his age-19 season, managing a respectable .761 OPS in the tough hitting environment that is the Florida State League. A singular athlete, Winokur hit 14 bombs (36 extra-base hits) to go with 23 stolen bases in a toolsy profile. If Winokur can keep his strikeout rate in check (28% in 2024), he has a chance to be a power/speed profile at a premium defensive position (centerfield). Which Twins hitting prospect are you most excited to see this offseason? What are other questions facing Twins prospects this season? Feel free to add your own in the comments. View full article

100 percent agree. I think the treatment of Raya has accomplished the mission; get him close to MLB healthy. Now you gotta see what you got in 2025.

All these positive comments are giving me life this AM. Thanks for reading and engaging, y'all. Excited to see how he does in AAA in 2025.

Twins right-handed pitcher Marco Raya has always had the stuff to become a big league starter. He's always been handled cautiously by the Twins. What has Raya been working on this offseason? We dig in to find out. Image courtesy of © Chris Tilley-Imagn Images One on hand, mission accomplished for the Twins and Marco Raya . The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher enters 2025 spring training healthy and on the doorstep of the majors. On the other hand, there’s so much still to discover. It’s a regular occurrence that a prospect comes into spring training with something to prove. It’s a less frequent occurrence that the needed proof-point stems from organizational decision making, rather than player performance. That’s exactly where Raya finds himself, though. His pitch counts and workload have been carefully monitored since he experienced shoulder problems earlier in his career. Successfully so. Raya hasn’t suffered persistent injuries since. He’s coming off a career-high 92 ⅔ innings in 2024 and is likely to start 2025 at Triple-A. Raya pitched six innings just once in 2024, five innings just five times. The other 19 starts were all less than five innings. Raya was on fairly strict pitch counts in 2024 to ensure he got to the doorstep of the majors with as little wear and tear as possible. It leaves us with important unanswered questions; how will his arsenal stand up to going through a lineup the third time? How will his smaller frame stand up to an increased workload in 2025? If Raya exhibits any frustration at the slow progression of his workload and pitch counts, he doesn’t show it. "It’s just building up little by little," Raya told Twins Daily’s John Bonnes, "Taking care of my arm and building my body weight to support it." The Twins clearly feel that the time is now to take the training wheels off Raya’s workload limitations. He threw at least five innings in five of his last seven starts for Wichita and St. Paul in 2024, capping a solid season in which he posted a 4.05 ERA, 3.88 FIP, and struck out 24.6% of hitters, while walking 10.5%. Raya has focused his offseason on being ready for spring training. "I got here January 5th," Raya told reporters, early in spring workouts. "The past few years I’ve arrived around the same date." Raya isn’t just relying on thorough preparation ahead of 2025, he’s expanded his arsenal. "I’ve got six pitches: four-seam, two-seam, cutter, curveball, slider, and changeup." Much like Andrew Morris, Raya has been engaged this season in diversifying his pitch mix. Raya added a cutter last year, which became one of his best pitches, creating plenty of in-zone whiffs. This offseason, his focus has been elsewhere. "I’ve really been hammering the change up. I didn’t feel super comfortable with it last year, but it’s really come along." Raya relayed to Bonnes, clarifying that he wants a pitch which ‘separates’ and moves away from left-handed hitters more effectively. Monitoring Raya’s changeup will be one area of interest for Twins fans in 2025, as he struggled a little more than you might like to see against left-handed hitters. With an expanded arsenal of pitches and the pitch count handbrake being eased off, we’ll finally get a chance to see how Raya’s strong stuff might translate to a starting pitching role on the big-league team in an extended audition in St. Paul. Twins Daily's John Bonnes contributed to reporting for this article. View full article

Draft tandem Jeremy Nygaard and JD Cameron team up for a podcast to discuss prospects on their way to the big leagues and the MLB draft, produced by Theo Tollefson. Image courtesy of Thieres Rabelo In episode 69 of Destination: The Show, Jeremy and Jamie, dig into a full mailbag of Twins prospect questions. They start with questions on prospects at the top of the Twins system, asking what Emmanuel Rodriguez’ role with the big league club will be and what kind of performance markers Walker Jenkins would need to demonstrate to move to AAA. The guys then jump into pitchers most likely to move up multiple levels in 2025, the prospects they are most looking forward to seeing at Cedar Rapids and get Theo on to give his best guess at the Saints rotation to start the 2025 season. Finally, Jeremy and Jamie recap their favorite Twins drafts, predict which pitching and hitting prospects will have the best 2025, talk about Dylan Questad and try to identify the biggest weaknesses in the Twins system before closing on reasonable 2025 expectations for Charlee Soto. 0:00 Intro/Housekeeping 2:17 Spring Training Storylines 6:27 Listener Questions 7:05 E-Rod's Role With the Twins 12:08 Pitcher Most Likely to Advance Multiple Levels 22:06 Walker Jenkins to Make AAA? 28:42 Looking Forward to Cedar Rapids 36:48 AA and AAA Starting Rotations 48:30 Favorite Drafts 52:33 Most Likely Twins to Fall 57:39 Hitter and Pitcher to Have the Best Seasons 1:02:15 Outlook for Dylan Questad 1:05:50 Which Prospect to Get a Beer With? Greatest Weakness? 1:13:30 Reasonable Expectations for Charlee Soto 1:19:22 Closing Time 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. View full article

Kaelen Culpepper was the Twins first round pick in 2024 and got off to a solid start in his pro debut. What are his strengths and opportunities for improvement? What should we expect from him in 2025? Let’s dig in. View full video

Ohl has been in AA two seasons so I'd expect him in AAA. For Wichita, something like Christian Macleod, Kyle Jones, CJ Culpepper, Connor Prielipp

Spring Training is here! It’s time to get reacquainted with the Twins' 2024 draft class, ahead of their first full season of professional baseball in 2025. Next up, Billy Amick Image courtesy of © Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK Draft Context, Scouting and Signing Billy Amick sat at the back end of the first round on most draft boards. Instead, he ended up falling to the second round (60th overall), where the Twins took him—despite not typically investing higher picks in prospects with contact questions. Power is the calling card in Amick’s profile, with good bat speed in a loft-oriented swing designed to generate pulled fly balls. There aren't a ton of other tools to write home about for Amick. A solid throwing arm is offset by a need to improve his actions at third base. A move to first base seems likely, but let’s stay open-minded about possible defensive improvement. If Amick can hit enough, the power is legit, and there will be value there. It’s a big "if". At 60th overall, however, it’s a sensible enough lottery ticket to buy, on a prospect who deviates from the Twins' usual hitting archetype. 2024 Pro Debut: Strengths and Opportunities 2024 Stats (A): 18 games (77 PA), .222/.351/.413, 3 HR, 15.6 BB%, 19.5 K%, 121 wRC+ After a slow start at Fort Myers, Amick rounded out his season with an excellent final few weeks. The power was evident from the outset; Amick’s 104-mph 90th-percentile exit velocity was well above average for the level, but a 70.1% contact rate and 18% whiff rate within the strike zone give him significant hit tool risk. One aspect of his profile that will be worth monitoring in 2025 is his approach. There’s some chase in the profile, too, particularly against breaking pitches (35% in 2024), but Amick showed an improved ability to take a walk in his pro debut, albeit in a small sample. Amick never walked more than about 10% of the time in college, but his 15.6% mark in his pro debut would represent a raising of his floor for me, as it would offset some of the swing-and-miss. There’s lots to like about Amick’s swing, with great rotational acceleration, but he’ll have to improve either his propensity to chase or the in-zone miss, or he may just never hit enough as a pro. Expectations for 2025 Individually, I see Amick has a fairly high-risk profile (for a college player). He’s a power-reliant corner defender with hit-tool risk. It’s still safe to say the Twins saw value in him as he slid, though. Drafting a prospect with a 1.026 OPS coming off a 23-home run college season and a national championship is an easily defensible pick. Globally, I’d cluster Amick with the other college bats (Kaelen Culpepper, Kyle DeBarge, Jaime Ferrer) who the Twins will hope move quickly and sure up the foundation of a farm system that has more impact in the upper levels of the minors. Prospect Preview: Kaelen Culpepper Prospect Preview: Kyle DeBarge View full article

Even if their pitching contingent from this draft mostly ended up as relievers, there's a ton of value in that class, totally agree.

Hundred percent agree.

Another developmental arm is knocking on the door of the Twins' big-league rotation. What is he focused on, heading into 2025? What are areas he can improve upon? Let's dig into one of the least-discussed Twins pitching prospects. Image courtesy of William Parmeter "Consistency, you know? Prove that I can be consistent." That's what Twins right-handed pitching prospect Andrew Morris told Twins Daily's John Bonnes in Ft. Myers recently, when asked what he needs to show in 2025 to make an impact on the big-league ball club. It’s clear that Morris sets a high bar for himself. One could make a good-faith argument that consistency is all he’s shown since being drafted by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft (114th overall). In 2023, Morris’s first full professional season, he posted a 3.17 FIP in 84 1/3 innings across two levels of A ball. In 2024, he reached the doorstep of the majors, with a 2.86 FIP across 133 innings spanning High A, Double A, and Triple A. Arsenal and MiLB Outcomes Were it not for Zebby Matthews’s incandescent 2024 season, Morris might have garnered more attention for his sustained excellence last year. Looking at the big picture, he’s part of a remarkable crop of college right-handers the Twins drafted in 2022, four of whom (Morris, Matthews, Cory Lewis, and C.J. Culpepper) have a chance to start at the highest level. There’s more to a Morris and Matthews comparison than the fact that both achieved minor-league excellence. Both are outstanding strike-throwers, and they roughly share a pitching arsenal. Morris lives in the zone. In 2024, his strike rate hovered around 70% (that’s 4-5% above MLB average). Therein lies one of his greatest remaining challenges and conundrums; does living in the zone that much eventually hurt a pitcher? When does leaving the zone (in different counts, with different pitches, using different locations) to induce chases by the batter create more leverage for an extreme strike-thrower? Let’s run down Morris’s 2024 arsenal, as it’s central to his next steps. He throws a four-seam fastball, curveball, slider, changeup, and cutter. As with Zebby Matthews, the Twins essentially split Morris’s cutter into two distinct pitches: a high-vert cutter deployed against left-handed hitters, and a gyro slider for use against right-handed hitters or in two-strike counts. Very loosely, Morris deploys his fastball 35% of the time (94-mph average); his slider/cutter 35% of the time (87 mph), his changeup 17% (88 mph), and his curveball 13% (75 mph). That's a deep arsenal of pitches. He has the ability to throw strikes whenever he wants. No wonder Morris has had consistent success throughout his career, to date. So what’s there to be concerned about? The amount of miss he generates. Morris’s strikeout percentage has fallen with each ascending level of the minor leagues. That's hardly surprising. However, the fall was more stark when he moved from Double-A Wichita to Triple-A St, Paul. Morris struck out 28% of hitters at High-A Cedar Rapids; 25% for Wichita; and just 19% with St. Paul, albeit in a 33 2/3-inning sample. That’s not untenable, but it is more of a tightrope to navigate if he’s to become a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter, instead of a Quadruple-A innings eater. I’d emphasize that these are run-of-the-mill developmental milestones for pitching prospects, as opposed to something unique to Morris. To me, there are three areas of opportunity to explore. Command over control The first area of opportunity is an issue he shares with Matthews. Because he’s an extreme strike-thrower, Morris’s control and command are often conflated. I’d argue there’s an opportunity for Morris to refine the command of his secondary pitches. This isn’t about hitting the zone; it’s about spotting specific pitches in specific portions thereof, and knowing when to leave the strike zone to generate leveraged counts over hitters. Adding a New Pitch Morris’s second area of improvement stems from a tidbit shared with reporters (including Twins Daily’s John Bonnes) at Spring Training. "I’m adding a sinker this year," Morris mentioned. "I need something to go in on righties, to open up the outer half of the plate." New pitch alert! Morris is adding a sinker. Cool. But why? How might it work? Morris’s four-seamer has average velocity and not much in the way of arm-side movement (though it does have some cut), so a pitch with run is going to play well jamming right-handed hitters inside. The Twins are following a template for Morris that the Houston Astros leveraged with Hunter Brown. Brown lowered his ERA by close to three runs after adding a sinker when he was struggling in early 2024. The premise was the same: give the guy something for right-handed hitters to think about inside, to open up the outside portion of the plate for his slider and breaking stuff. Increased Velocity on Secondary Pitches The final area of opportunity for Morris is increasing the consistency of velocity in his secondary offerings (firmness). Essentially, that means getting each within a range that enhances deception based on the velocity or movement characteristics of another pitch, therefore building the efficacy of not just the individual pitch but his arsenal as a whole. Morris should get plenty of run at Triple A in 2025, and that’s a good thing. He has at least seven starting pitchers ahead of him on the depth chart. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from his first two seasons of minor-league baseball, it’s that he’ll achieve the consistency he’s looking for. Twins Daily’s John Bonnes contributed to reporting for this article. View full article

Draft tandem Jeremy Nygaard and JD Cameron team up for a podcast to discuss prospects on their way to the big leagues and the MLB draft, produced by Theo Tollefson. Image courtesy of Thieres Rabelo In episode 68 of Destination: The Show, Jeremy, Jamie, and Theo start by digging into the Twins signing Ty France to a one-year, non guaranteed MLB deal. What does this mean for other players competing for playing time at first base? How would they sum up the Twins offseason heading into spring training? The guys then jump into competing Twins top ten prospects lists. They are consistent through the top three, but things get interesting at pick number four. How did the prospects featured perform in 2024? What are lingering questions for them in 2025? The guys also dig into Connor Prielipp’s role for the Twins in 2025, and talk through the challenge of trying to place recently drafted prospects on organizational lists who don’t have much of a pro-track record to evaluate. 0:00 Intro 1:00 Theo's Plans for the year 2:23 Housekeeping 3:32 Ty France 10:00 Offseason Feelings 12:12 Twins Top 10 -- no argument at 1 (Walker Jenkins) 17:21 Another agreement at 2 (Emmanuel Rodriguez) 23:00 Not a lot of drama at 3 (Luke Keaschall) 31:58 Where the disagreements start: Andrew Morris 37:40 Connor Prielipp 47:20 Kaelan Culpepper 52:05 Marco Raya 57:56 Charlee Soto 1:02:59 Cory Lewis 1:07:09 Brandon Winokur 1:10:25 Kyle DeBarge 1:13:30 Rayne Doncon 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. View full article

Just responding to a couple of trends so far: 1. Often college guys starting in pro ball start slow as it's by far the longest season they've been involved in. I personally think there's some swing changes ahead (or behind) depending on how the offseason went, to get away from the high ground ball rate. 2. RE draft rankings, he was also in the 30s on ESPN and BP, so let's represent the highs and the lows of his rankings. His consensus ranking was 50th. Twins liked what they saw and they've earned enough trust in the draft for that to be good enough for me. 3. For the couple negative folks. You're entitled to your opinions. The goal of these pieces (and any player evaluation) is to start with the question: 'what does this player do well'? From there, we work out to opportunities and areas of growth. Let's give all these guys a full season before drawing meaningful conclusions. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and commenting on these, appreciate the TD prospect community.

I think the outcome you get (production wise) if it all goes well is a Willi Castro type of player. Defensively versatile, enough bat to contribute to the lineup with consistency, some speed etc.

Spring training is around the corner. It’s time to get reacquainted with the Twins' 2024 MLB Draft class ahead of their first full season of professional baseball. Today, that means breaking down the sparkplug of a college infielder the team took with the 33rd overall pick last summer. Image courtesy of Image courtesy of William Parmeter Draft Context, Scouting, and Signing Kyle DeBarge and Sonny Gray will always be connected: The Twins selected DeBarge with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 draft, a compensatory selection awarded after Gray declined the qualifying offer and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. DeBarge, a Louisiana-Lafayette standout, signed for $2.4 million (slot value: $2.77 million). A three-year starter at UL-L, he showed steady improvement each season. As a freshman, he posted a .750 OPS with 17 extra-base hits. His sophomore year saw a jump to a .994 OPS, with 22 extra-base hits. He truly broke out as a junior, with a 1.112 OPS and 21 home runs—tripling his previous career high. He had a total of 43 extra-base hits across 62 games. Though just 5-foot-9, DeBarge is an explosive athlete with plus bat-to-ball skills. His swing is noisy and effortful, but it allowed him to generate power in college, particularly on pulled fly balls. However, his tendency to stay tall through his swing may limit his ability to consistently lift the ball at the pro level, unless some big adjustments are made. 2024 Pro Debut: Strengths and Opportunities 2024 Stats (A): 26 games (115 PA) – .235/.322/.343, 1 HR (6 XBH), 12 BB, 28 K, 15 SB DeBarge’s offensive game is built on plus contact skills and an advanced feel for the barrel. Despite a slow pro debut, he showed a mature approach at the plate, posting a 10.4% walk rate and a 78.3% contact rate, with in-zone whiff and chase rates well above average for the level. A dynamic runner, DeBarge aggressively utilized his speed, going 15-for-18 in stolen base attempts for Low-A Fort Myers. Defensively, he has the actions to stick at shortstop, making plenty of plays—including some highlight-reel moments made because of limited range due to his smaller stature. His arm is strong enough to remain at the position, at least in the short term. DeBarge’s early struggles stemmed from excessive ground-ball contact, producing an average launch angle of just 2 degrees. If he can make swing adjustments to generate more loft, he has the potential to be one of the college bats from the 2024 draft class who move quickly through the system in 2025. Expectations for 2025 DeBarge is an exciting player to watch. He belongs to a promising group of college hitters from the Twins’ 2024 draft class—alongside Kaelen Culpepper, Billy Amick, Jaime Ferrer, and Khadim Diaw—whom the organization hopes will advance quickly through the lower minors. A realistic upside for DeBarge is a defensively versatile infielder with enough offensive tools to develop into either a high-end utility player or a lower-impact everyday contributor. He currently projects as a top-15 prospect in the Twins' system, but has the potential to break into the top 10 with a strong 2025 season. View full article

Thanks kindly for saying so. DeBarge is imminent.

Appreciate the kind words and the comments. Thanks for reading.