MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins rookies Brooks Lee and David Festa each lost their “prospect” status this week by surpassing 130 at-bats and 50 innings in the majors, respectively. They join fellow rookies Simeon Woods Richardson and Austin Martin, who lost their prospect labels months ago.
Seen as a top-five farm system, according to recent rankings by MLB.com (No. 2), Baseball America (No. 3) and ESPN (No. 4), the Twins will slide a bit with Lee, Festa, Woods Richardson and Martin now ineligible. However, that doesn’t make those four players any less valuable, and it shouldn’t take away from what has been a hugely successful year for the Twins’ system.
With the minor-league season winding down, let’s check in with the Twins’ three consensus top-100 prospects who aren’t already in the big leagues.
Walker Jenkins, CF
Twins top prospect Walker Jenkins received a Double-A promotion for the final week of Wichita’s schedule, both as a reward for the 19-year-old’s great first full season and to make up for the playing time he missed in April and May while sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Jenkins was the No. 5 pick in a stacked 2023 MLB Draft and has since established himself as a consensus top-10 global prospect by batting .305/.403/.481 with 43 extra-base hits and more walks (63) than strikeouts (57) through 104 professional games. In addition to the obvious hitting upside, he looks comfortable in center field, and is 15-for-18 stealing bases this season despite the injury.
walker jenkins x joe mauer pic.twitter.com/FQzJqamo5l
— parker hageman (@HagemanParker) August 29, 2024
Jenkins got off to a slow start following his late-July promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids, but then hit .349/.449/.590 in his final 22 games there despite being one of the youngest players in the Midwest League. That earned him the late-season bump to Wichita, and regardless of his final numbers there, simply reaching the Double-A level as a teenager is rare.
How rare? Jenkins is the first Twins hitting prospect in 25 years to play a Double-A game during their age-19 season. He’s also the only 19-year-old hitter, for any team, to play multiple games in the Double-A Texas League this season and one of just seven to do so in the four seasons since the 2020 campaign was wiped out by the pandemic.
Even seeing Double-A time as a 20-year-old is a rarity among Twins hitting prospects, with only Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sanó doing it in the Target Field era (since 2010). Meanwhile, there’s a real chance Jenkins will reach the majors in his age-20 season, and it’s possible he’ll do so as the No. 1 prospect in baseball.
Jenkins ranked No. 9 on The Athletic’s midseason prospects list, posted in late July following the draft, and since then he’s also moved up to No. 2 for MLB.com and No. 6 for Baseball America. And several of the top prospects ranked ahead of him have graduated to the big leagues and could shed their prospect status in September.
Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF/RF
Regardless of how quickly Jenkins can join the Twins’ outfield, Emmanuel Rodriguez will likely already be there. Despite missing much of June, July and August with a nagging thumb injury, Rodriguez cemented his status as a top-30 prospect by putting up huge Double-A numbers as a 21-year-old.
And in a sign of how highly the Twins think of Rodriguez, as soon as he was cleared to return from a brief low-minors rehab assignment, they activated him from the Double-A injured list on Sept. 2 and promoted him to Triple-A St. Paul. They felt he was ready for the challenge despite his last Double-A game being on June 5, and it’s easy to see why.
Emmanuel Rodriguez with an inside-the-park GRAND SLAM for his first Triple-A HR⚡️#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/UBhAGY7z5A
— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) September 8, 2024
Rodriguez hit .298/.479/.621 in 37 games for Double-A Wichita, posting the Texas League’s highest on-base percentage by more than 50 points, as well as the second-highest slugging percentage and OPS. Unfortunately, he’s back on the injured list for the third time this season after aggravating the thumb injury in his seventh Triple-A game.
Rodriguez has an elite power-speed combo, totaling eight homers and nine steals in roughly a quarter of a Double-A season, but his otherworldly plate discipline is what sets him apart from other top prospects. Rodriguez drew 42 walks in 37 games with Wichita, and he’s averaged a jaw-dropping 146 walks per 150 games during his minor-league career.
There’s always some risk that extreme patience will turn into passivity, and Rodriguez constantly working deep counts has led to a fairly high strikeout rate, but Twins officials believe he’ll be able to dial up his aggression versus more experienced pitchers with better control. And when the left-handed-hitting Rodriguez swings and makes contact, the ball absolutely explodes off his bat.
Beginning next season back in St. Paul seems likely, but Rodriguez will be a 2025 factor for the Twins if healthy. Beyond his hitting ability, he also profiles as a capable center fielder and a very good right fielder with above-average range and a strong arm, a convenient on-field fit for the Twins with Max Kepler headed to free agency and the annual need for Buxton injury insurance.
Luke Keaschall, 2B/CF/1B
Luke Keaschall’s breakout season came to a premature end in mid-August, as the Twins picked a date for him to shut things down and undergo Tommy John surgery for a right elbow injury that he knowingly played through for 102 very productive games at High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita.
Limited mostly to designated hitter and first base, with only sporadic time at his usual second base and center field, Keaschall hit .303/.420/.483 with 15 homers, 23 steals and nearly as many walks (62) as strikeouts (80) split across the two levels. He produced well against Double-A pitchers less than a year after being drafted in the second round out of Arizona State.
It Isn’t A Long Ball Party Without Luke!
Luke Keaschall twists a two-out, two-run home run down the left field line to triple the lead.
M8
Wind Surge: 3
Hooks: 0 pic.twitter.com/dzEqgoVWak— Wichita Wind Surge (@WindSurgeICT) August 8, 2024
Keaschall and the Twins knew he’d need surgery, but going under the knife in April or May would have cost him the entire season. Instead, he took on a lesser role defensively to keep his bat in the lineup and thrived in his age-21 season, emerging as a consensus top-100 prospect. And by not waiting until the offseason to have the surgery, he should have time to be ready for 2025.
“Keaschall had a tremendous year in the minors,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “We made the determination a little while back, knowing the timing, to proceed with that surgery now, because we knew he’d need it in the offseason. He did lose the last month of his minor-league season, but it ultimately allows him a full spring training next year.”
Assuming his recovery goes according to plan, Keaschall profiles as a top-of-the-order hitter with very good on-base skills, above-average speed and decent power, along with the potential to be a quality defender as a second baseman, center fielder or perhaps in a super-utility role. Despite knowing of the injury, multiple selling teams targeted him at the trade deadline.
He’ll likely need to be handled somewhat cautiously to begin next season, which makes it difficult to estimate a call-up timeline, but the Twins have shown a willingness to move Keaschall aggressively in less than ideal circumstances. He won’t be 23 years old until next August and could absolutely be in the majors by then.
(Photo of Luke Keaschall at the Futures Game: Rob Tringali / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
