The Minnesota Twins have several top prospects in their farm system who are currently being given adequate time to craft their game in the minors.
Three of those top prospects – 2022 first-round pick Brooks Lee, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Marco Raya – entered this year with high expectations, but two months into the season, they have hit some obstacles on their path to the majors.
Here’s a look at how they’ve been getting on:
Brooks Lee might not play in the majors in 2023
The Twins were excited when they selected Lee with the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft and his performance last summer reinforced that belief. Playing at three different levels of the Twins system, Lee was most impressive at Low-A Fort Myers, hitting .289/.395/.454 with four homers and 12 RBI in 25 games.
That performance and an endorsement from Carlos Correa had some fans thinking Lee could make his way to the majors this year, but he hasn’t developed at the same rate, which could push his debut back to 2024.
In 46 games with High-A Cedar Rapids, Lee is hitting .262/.338/.415 with four home runs and 20 RBI. The 22-year-old has turned it on by hitting .325/.391/.500 with a home run and five RBI in his last games but he may not currently have a spot in the major leagues because he has exclusively played shortstop.
Brooks Lee with an oppo taco for his 4th home run of the season last night🌮
He went 2-4 with a BB, 2B, HR, and 3 RBI in the Wind Surge win last nightđź’Ş pic.twitter.com/15WWCpCN9w
— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) May 25, 2023
With Royce Lewis making an immediate impact at third base, Lee’s best chance to make the majors is if Correa’s plantar fasciitis forces him to the injured list. But Lee’s bat has shown it needs some work and the Twins’ best option might be to let him get reps and hope he’s ready next summer.
Related: Scary moment as Royce Lewis flips over 1B, lands on head
Emmanuel Rodriguez is having trouble with strikeouts
Rodriguez may have been the Twins prospect with the most buzz after slugging his way through the pitcher-friendly Florida State League last season, but strikeouts have been a huge problem as he’s made his way to Cedar Rapids.
Rodriguez struck out at least once in his first 15 games to begin the season and has multiple strikeouts in 16 of his 30 games with the Kernels. Because of his struggles at the plate, Rodriguez is hitting just .173/.333/.373 with six homers and 20 RBI.
Emmanuel Rodriguez (MIN): 3/6, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB, 3 K. Been a slow start for him but he’s slashing .300/.440/.500 the last five games. K-rate still ~38% and his HR last night (first since 5/23) came on… this pitch pic.twitter.com/qp7VFVuK0v
— Tyler Bowen (@bowentyler96) June 2, 2023
There is still hope for Rodriguez, who at age 19 hit .272/.493/.552 with nine home runs, 25 RBI and 11 stolen bases with Fort Meyers last season. But Rodriguez still struck out 52 times in 136 at-bats, signaling a need for improvement as this season progresses.
Marco Raya is the Twins’ pitching prospect to keep an eye on
A lot has been made of the Twins’ issues developing their own pitching and top prospects Simeon Woods-Richardson (0-5, 7.38 ERA) and Jordan Balazovic (0-1, 4.45 ERA) have struggled at Triple-A St. Paul. But the Twins pitching prospect to watch may be in Cedar Rapids, where Marco Raya is building off a strong first season in the organization.
Raya went 3-2 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 65 innings last season but he was even more dominant than those numbers suggest. Raya notched just under a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his lone season in Fort Myers and held opposing hitters to a .199 average at the plate.
Making the jump to High-A hasn’t been a problem as Raya has a 2.61 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP in 20.2 innings this season. Raya also has 24 strikeouts to just five walks and is holding hitters to a .145 batting average.
Marco Raya put together another good performance last nightđź‘Ź
3 IP / 2 H / 1 R / 0 BB / 4 K
Raya averaged 96mph on the heater and had his full mix working with a 48% whiff rateđź’Ą#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/TCVeSTBNbj
— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) June 3, 2023
The catch is that Raya’s workload has been monitored as he works against his injury history. A shoulder injury put him on the shelf in the 2021 season and the Twins limited him on the mound in an effort to keep him healthy.
This has continued in 2023 as Raya has yet to pitch more than three innings in any start but even if he’s forced to the bullpen, Raya is proving he has strikeout stuff and solid command, which should help him rise through the Twins’ organization.
