St. Paul Saints' Roster is Loaded With Top Prospects and MLB Experience

There's a ton of talent on the Twins' Triple-A affiliate that should help the big-league club over the course of his year.

Sep 3, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews (52) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Target Field. | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

One day after the Twins' season began, the St. Paul Saints — Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate — are set to begin their season on Friday evening in Indianapolis. The Saints' roster is loaded with top prospects and former big leaguers, many of whom will wind up at the MLB level at some point in 2026.

Friday's game (5:35 p.m. CT, free on milb.com) features two of the top prospects in all of baseball. Indianapolis, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pirates, has the sport's No. 1 prospect in Konnor Griffin. The Saints are led by Walker Jenkins, the Twins' top prospect who MLB.com ranks 14th overall.

St. Paul's Opening Day lineup is pretty stacked for a Triple-A squad:

Walker Jenkins, CF
Gabriel Gonzalez, DH
Kaelen Culpepper, SS
Emmanuel Rodriguez, RF
Alan Roden, LF
Orlando Arcia, 2B
Eric Wagaman, 1B
Ryan Kreidler, 3B
Alex Jackson, C

Each of the top four hitters in that lineup are among the top seven prospects in the Twins' organization. Jenkins is No. 1, Gonzalez is No. 7, Culpepper is No. 2, and Rodriguez is No. 3. Culpepper will be making his Triple-A debut. The Twins' No. 5 prospect, left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp, is starting on the mound. All five of those players have a chance to be up with the Twins by this summer and are a big part of the franchise's future.

Hitters 5-9 in that lineup all have previous MLB experience. Roden had a strong spring but remains in Triple-A because he's blocked by fellow lefty outfielders Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, and James Outman. Arcia is a former All-Star. Wagaman played in 140 games for the Marlins last year. Jackson was set to be the Twins' No. 2 catcher before they signed Victor Caratini.

There isn't even a spot in the lineup for Kyler Fedko (28 HR, 38 SB in the minors last season) or Aaron Sabato (23 HR). David Bañuelos, Noah Cardenas, and Tanner Schobel make up the rest of the bench.

Following Prielipp, Zebby Matthews will start for the Saints on Saturday and Andrew Morris will get the ball on Sunday. Matthews has made 25 MLB starts and is sixth on the Twins' organizational SP depth chart. Morris is the No. 13 prospect in the org. The pitching staff also includes top-30 Twins prospects Kendry Rojas, Marco Raya, and John Klein, although Rojas is beginning the season on the IL due to a hamstring strain.

Dan Altavilla and Matt Bowman are two Saints relievers with MLB experience. The bullpen is expected to add eight-year big-leaguer John Brebbia, who is signing a minor league deal with Minnesota, per Darren Wolfson. Rounding out the pitching staff are Trent Baker, Andrew Bash, Grant Hartwig, Raul Brito, Christian MacLeod, and Eduardo Salazar.