Four very exciting Twins pitching prospects in updated top-10 rankings
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If Twins' pitching prospects develop into MLB-caliber starters, the next two or three years could see some fresh faces on the mound in Minnesota.
MLB Pipeline has updated the top-30 prospects for each team and for the Twins it's a refreshed look at the top 10, four of whom are starting pitchers.
After the top four prospects – Walker Jenkins, Brooks Lee, Emanuel Rodriguez and Gabriel Gonzalez – who are all position players, the next four in the top 10 are right-handed pitchers David Festa, Marco Raya, Charlee Soto and C.J. Culpepper.
- Festa jumped from No. 10 in last year's rankings to No. 5.
- Raya is No. 6 this year after being ranked fifth last year.
- Soto flipped from No. 6 last year to No. 7 this year.
- Culpepper saw the biggest rise, going from No. 15 to No. 8.
The biggest faller in the top 30 is left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp, who slipped to No. 17 after being ranked seventh last year.
The write-up from Pipeline on Festa might make Twins fans drool: "A 6-foot-6 right-hander, Festa has three at least above-average pitches in his arsenal. A fastball that sat 91 mph in college averaged nearly 95 mph in 2023 and touched 98. His slider now averages 87 mph, registers high spin rates and misses a good amount of bats (41 percent miss rate last year), while his mid-80s changeup has also been a very good pitch for him."
Festa's estimated MLB arrival is this season, so he's a name to watch not only for the last three weeks of spring training but also as the MLB season advances. And Twins fans will be able to make the drive to St. Paul to see him pitch for the Triple-A Saints.
Jul 8, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; American League Futures pitcher David Festa (48) of the Minnesota Twins pitches to the National League during the fifth inning of the All Star-Futures game at T-Mobile Park.
Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Raya, 21, is expected to start the season at Double-A Wichita and the Pipeline write-up on him is always very encouraging: "He's always had plenty of fastball, a pitch that was averaging around 96 mph, with high spin up in the zone. His real out pitch is his slider, missing a ton of bats at 84-85 mph, also with elite spin rates. He can land his slightly slower curve with depth to give hitters a different look, and the Twins think his changeup has improved the most, going from a below-average pitch when he was in Single-A to an offspeed offering that flashes plus with fade and depth. He's working on a cutter to round out his arsenal and has had good early returns with it, a harder Walker Buehler-ish kind of pitch."
Soto is only 18 years old and is a long way from reaching the big leagues, but he might be the best pitching prospect in the organization.
"Soto's combination of size, pure stuff and age -- he'll pitch nearly all of 2024 at 18 -- is extremely intriguing," Pipeline's bio on him reads. "The 6-foot-5 right-hander's fastball is already regularly up to 98 mph and flirting with triple digits, a four-seamer with good life, and now he's adding a real power mid-90s sinker to go along with it. He's also working on refining what's already a good hard slider with cutter-like action to give him something with more east-west movement to go along with the fastball. His split-change has good fade to it and gives him a third at least average pitch."
Aug 28, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, US; East pitcher Charlee Soto (23) during the Perfect Game All-American Classic high school baseball game at Chase Field.
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Culpepper, 22, might be a couple of years from reaching the majors but Pipeline describes him as a 6-foot-3 right-hander "with the chance to be a workhorse-like starting pitcher in the big leagues."
