Twins May Have Struck Gold With Under-the-Radar Rule 5 Pick

A well-traveled outfielder is making a lot of noise.

Austin Peay center fielder Garrett Spain comes off the field between innings as the Govs faced Jacksonville State | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

On Wednesday, Garrett Spain launched two home runs for Double-A Wichita, driving in four runs during the Wind Surge's 9–3 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks. His second blast gave him 20 home runs for the season, extending a career high while continuing one of the hottest stretches of his professional career.

The 25-year-old has now homered four times over his last four games. Wednesday also marked his second multi-homer performance of the season. Spain is hitting .245 with a .336 on-base percentage, an .829 OPS, 20 home runs, 47 RBI, and 14 stolen bases through 343 at-bats this season.

Spain's Long Road to Minnesota

Austin Peay's Garrett Spain swings a pitch against Jacksonville State in the second game of a three-game series | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Spain's professional career has already come with plenty of mileage. Toronto originally selected the Austin Peay product in the 15th round of the 2021 MLB draft. He remained in the Blue Jays' system through 2024 before Milwaukee selected him in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft that December.

Spain then spent 2025 in the Brewers organization, hitting .203/.280/.364 with 16 home runs across 131 games between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville. Minnesota selected him in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft the following December, marking the second straight winter in which Spain received an early Christmas gift from a new organization.

He has made the most of that second opportunity. His current .829 OPS sits well above his .678 mark across his entire minor-league career. The improvement is especially notable after he hit just .167 with a .550 OPS during a difficult 2024 season, transforming him from an unremarkable minor leaguer into a player who has earned a longer look.

Spain's path is hardly unusual in a sport where development rarely follows a straight line. Top prospects can make the climb look effortless, sometimes reaching the Majors before most people their age have settled into adulthood. The crueler reality is that plenty of minor leaguers spend years bouncing between levels and organizations, traveling for hours on team buses and living on cheap takeout while waiting for something to finally click.

The average player making his Major League debut was roughly 25 years old in recent seasons, while Baseball America found that drafted players who eventually reach the Majors generally need four to five seasons to get there. Spain, now 25 and five years removed from being drafted, is not necessarily running out of time.

Spain finds himself on the slower, far more common path through professional baseball. A promotion to Triple-A or the Majors might look late compared with players who were already established All-Stars at his age, but by the standards of player development, it would hardly qualify as a delay.

Maybe Spain ultimately follows that well-worn path and earns another promotion before the season ends. If he does, it would be the story of a ballplayer who endured the usual highs and lows before turning that persistence into something tangible.