All Things 2026 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread
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GophersInIowa
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Gopher_In_NYC
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I was hoping my powers of optimism would prevail.
Alas, I may end up on the IL soon st this rate
Gopher_In_NYC
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Listening to the Mariners-Twins game I was shocked that when Seattle returns Home they are retiring Randy Johnson's #51.
Big Unit's No. 51 will be retired by Mariners on May 2
SEATTLE -- The Big Unit will take center stage as part of a big ceremony when his No. 51 jersey is retired by the Mariners, which the club announced on Thursday will take place on May 2. That Saturday night’s game is slated for a 6:40 p.m. PT first pitchwww.mlb.com
The surprise is that it has not been done already.
Ope3
2 bowls of split plea soup to go, eh?
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That would be a prudent business decision.
Breakin' The Plane
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Couple theories I read: There has been some hurt feelings because he chose to go into the Hall as a Diamondback. The other is that since they basically had to retire 51 twice, they waited to do Ichiro after he entered the Hall, with the plan to retire Randy Johnson's the following year.Listening to the Mariners-Twins game I was shocked that when Seattle returns Home they are retiring Randy Johnson's #51.
Big Unit's No. 51 will be retired by Mariners on May 2
SEATTLE -- The Big Unit will take center stage as part of a big ceremony when his No. 51 jersey is retired by the Mariners, which the club announced on Thursday will take place on May 2. That Saturday night’s game is slated for a 6:40 p.m. PT first pitch
The surprise is that it has not been done already.
Ope3
2 bowls of split plea soup to go, eh?
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I totally overlooked the Ichiro aspect.
GophersInIowa
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Going in as a Diamondback makes sense too. He won 4 out of 5 Cy Youngs there. And a WS.
GophersInIowa
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Morris has only thrown 10 innings.
On another note, Christian Vazquez is hitting .313 so far for Houston.
Gopher_In_NYC
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I think they will and have to do give Royce the whole year and live with whatever happens, due to what he’s flashed and what they’ve invested in him and then make a decision about his future if he doesn’t ball out and show there’s no need to decide anything.
So glad Austin Martin figured it out and is shining bright now; love him as a 4 OF/super utility player once Manny Walker make the jump. I thought he was toast in first half last season and man his second half was impressive
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Gopher_In_NYC
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My mom saw scattered snowflakes yesterday in Sude Lahe, outside of Hibbing/Chisholm.
Houston has better "vitamins". And garbage cans.
GophersInIowa
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I've verified that Wallner does have 1 more option available.
Gopher_In_NYC
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This article from Matthew Leach the Twins Beat Writer explains the holes (see bolded text) in Manny’s resume and his progress Grasshoppers.
Twins prospect Rodriguez trending toward a big league trip across Twin Cities
Twins prospect Rodriguez trending toward a big league trip across Twin Cities
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emmanuel Rodriguez has always been a patient hitter. It’s been one of his calling cards since the very beginning of his professional baseball career. But there’s patience, and there’s passivity. And the key for Rodriguez is making sure he’s on the right side of that line.
www.mlb.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emmanuel Rodriguezhas always been a patient hitter. It’s been one of his calling cards since the very beginning of his professional baseball career.
But there’s patience, and there’s passivity. And the key for Rodriguez is making sure he’s on the right side of that line. So far this year at Triple-A St. Paul, he has been. That, combined with a welcome stretch of good health, has Rodriguez knocking on the door of the Major Leagues.
It’s probably not imminent. Even with Matt Wallner scuffling in right field for the Twins, it’s worth acknowledging that Rodriguez has work to do. He’s still just 23, still has barely 500 plate appearances in the high Minors, and still has weaknesses in his offensive game. He still has too much swing-and-miss, for one thing.
But it’s not hard to see the progress – not hard to see the tools and evolving skills that have made Rodriguez a Top 100 prospect since he was 19. His recent two-homer game garnered attention, but Rodriguez has been raking all season.
“I’m just trusting my eyes and trying to see those pitches better and be more aggressive in the zone,” Rodriguez said through teammate and interpreter Marco Raya. “Just keep that discipline of recognizing when pitches are good pitches to swing at and when they’re out of the zone, and not be chasing.”
Entering Friday's game against Iowa, Rodriguez sported a .250/.419/.513 line with six homers, 22 walks and 31 strikeouts. He’s not setting the world on fire, but he has been highly productive. He’s also been staying in the lineup, which is always a big deal for a player with a checkered health history.
It follows a tremendous run in winter ball in the Dominican Republic and a strong spring in his first full, healthy big league camp, both of which are experiences he points to as having boosted his confidence.
“It was really good for me,” he said, “being around all those veteran guys and pitchers that execute a lot better than a lot of the guys in the lower Minor Leagues and are smarter and will attack those weak zones more consistently. As well, playing in the D.R., in my homeland, with that pressure, the amount of pressure that holds, I was able to control that and hold those at-bat to at-bat adjustments. That’s helped me gain confidence a lot more.”
https://gopherhole.com/boards/mlbat...ng-statcast-data-spring-training-2026&lang=en
As for attacking the zone, that’s coming along nicely. Entering play on Thursday, Rodriguez’s in-zone swing rate has climbed from 63.3% in 2025 to 69.6% in 2026. In case you don’t know offhand what normal in-zone swing rates look like, 69.6% would rank around the top 25 percent of qualified Major League hitters this year, while 63.3% would rank in the bottom half. So, while it may not sound like much, it’s a notable difference.
“That's been a work in progress for a while, a point of emphasis for a while,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said recently. “He's had some fits and starts from an injury perspective. That always can throw off that progress. To see him be able to fully put that into play here has been really exciting. … He's doing a ton of damage and putting stuff together really nicely here in this first month in Triple-A.”
Where he could still use improvement is in making contact. His 36.8% swing and miss rate entering Thursday's games is 15th highest among all Triple-A hitters with at least 150 swings, and that’s the kind of thing that big league pitchers would exploit. But again, Rodriguez is 23, and he still has a limited amount of experience above A-ball. It’s not that he can’t or won’t get there.
“There’s a lot of things that I can get better at,” he said. “In general, that’s the main thing I came into the season working on, being a little bit more disciplined at the plate and at the same time being a little bit more aggressive. Outside of that, just making day-to-day adjustments as the game goes and throughout the season.”
Gopher_In_NYC
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My guess, FWIW, is that neither him or Culpepper gets called up in the first half and will debut in the second half at some point.This article from Matthew Leach the Twins Beat Writer explains the holes (see bolded text) in Manny’s resume and his progress Grasshoppers.
Twins prospect Rodriguez trending toward a big league trip across Twin Cities
Twins prospect Rodriguez trending toward a big league trip across Twin Cities
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emmanuel Rodriguez has always been a patient hitter. It’s been one of his calling cards since the very beginning of his professional baseball career. But there’s patience, and there’s passivity. And the key for Rodriguez is making sure he’s on the right side of that line.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emmanuel Rodriguezhas always been a patient hitter. It’s been one of his calling cards since the very beginning of his professional baseball career.
But there’s patience, and there’s passivity. And the key for Rodriguez is making sure he’s on the right side of that line. So far this year at Triple-A St. Paul, he has been. That, combined with a welcome stretch of good health, has Rodriguez knocking on the door of the Major Leagues.
It’s probably not imminent. Even with Matt Wallner scuffling in right field for the Twins, it’s worth acknowledging that Rodriguez has work to do. He’s still just 23, still has barely 500 plate appearances in the high Minors, and still has weaknesses in his offensive game. He still has too much swing-and-miss, for one thing.
But it’s not hard to see the progress – not hard to see the tools and evolving skills that have made Rodriguez a Top 100 prospect since he was 19. His recent two-homer game garnered attention, but Rodriguez has been raking all season.
“I’m just trusting my eyes and trying to see those pitches better and be more aggressive in the zone,” Rodriguez said through teammate and interpreter Marco Raya. “Just keep that discipline of recognizing when pitches are good pitches to swing at and when they’re out of the zone, and not be chasing.”
Entering Friday's game against Iowa, Rodriguez sported a .250/.419/.513 line with six homers, 22 walks and 31 strikeouts. He’s not setting the world on fire, but he has been highly productive. He’s also been staying in the lineup, which is always a big deal for a player with a checkered health history.
It follows a tremendous run in winter ball in the Dominican Republic and a strong spring in his first full, healthy big league camp, both of which are experiences he points to as having boosted his confidence.
“It was really good for me,” he said, “being around all those veteran guys and pitchers that execute a lot better than a lot of the guys in the lower Minor Leagues and are smarter and will attack those weak zones more consistently. As well, playing in the D.R., in my homeland, with that pressure, the amount of pressure that holds, I was able to control that and hold those at-bat to at-bat adjustments. That’s helped me gain confidence a lot more.”
As for attacking the zone, that’s coming along nicely. Entering play on Thursday, Rodriguez’s in-zone swing rate has climbed from 63.3% in 2025 to 69.6% in 2026. In case you don’t know offhand what normal in-zone swing rates look like, 69.6% would rank around the top 25 percent of qualified Major League hitters this year, while 63.3% would rank in the bottom half. So, while it may not sound like much, it’s a notable difference.
“That's been a work in progress for a while, a point of emphasis for a while,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said recently. “He's had some fits and starts from an injury perspective. That always can throw off that progress. To see him be able to fully put that into play here has been really exciting. … He's doing a ton of damage and putting stuff together really nicely here in this first month in Triple-A.”
Where he could still use improvement is in making contact. His 36.8% swing and miss rate entering Thursday's games is 15th highest among all Triple-A hitters with at least 150 swings, and that’s the kind of thing that big league pitchers would exploit. But again, Rodriguez is 23, and he still has a limited amount of experience above A-ball. It’s not that he can’t or won’t get there.
“There’s a lot of things that I can get better at,” he said. “In general, that’s the main thing I came into the season working on, being a little bit more disciplined at the plate and at the same time being a little bit more aggressive. Outside of that, just making day-to-day adjustments as the game goes and throughout the season.”
He’s only hitting .250 at Triple A, not .350. Additionally, they’re trying to iron out the kinks in his game now, he ain’t going to be able to do that in the Bigs. I’m much more interested in his long-term success father than having him come up and be a flash the pan for a couple months.
I remember the same conversation regarding Wallner when he was tearing up St. Paul at a much higher level than Manny. Wallner may well get the first half to figure it out on his end as well, because once he hits St. Paul again at his age, he’s no longer considered a legit prospect.
If Manny would have stayed relatively healthy the last several seasons, than there is a stronger case to be made
. He only hires a trainer this last off season, despite his injury history and receiving $1.7M to sign IIRC; that seems pretty immature to me - he’s likely still growing up mentally as well, so I’d be much more inclined to error on the side of caution - that’s how 59 year old think.
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Slim Tubby
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Top 10 prospects
| Player | Previous | Trending |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walker Jenkins, CF | 1 | |
| 2. Eduardo Tait, C | 2 | |
| 3. Connor Prielipp, LHP | 3 | |
| 4. Kaelen Culpepper, SS | 4 | |
| 5. Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF | 6 |
|
| 6. Charlee Soto, RHP | 5 | 
|
| 7. Kendry Rojas, LHP | 9 |
|
| 8. Dasan Hill, LHP | 8 | |
| 9. Gabriel Gonzalez, RF | 7 |
|
| 10. Marek Houston, SS | 10 |
May update! 2026 top 10 prospect rankings for all 30 MLB teams
Who is rising in every major league farm system a month into the season? Kiley McDaniel digs in.
Gopher_In_NYC
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Who cares? Let him learn in the Majors. He gets hurt a lot, so if they wait, he might not be available and then it's 2027.This article from Matthew Leach the Twins Beat Writer explains the holes (see bolded text) in Manny’s resume and his progress Grasshoppers.
Twins prospect Rodriguez trending toward a big league trip across Twin Cities
Twins prospect Rodriguez trending toward a big league trip across Twin Cities
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emmanuel Rodriguez has always been a patient hitter. It’s been one of his calling cards since the very beginning of his professional baseball career. But there’s patience, and there’s passivity. And the key for Rodriguez is making sure he’s on the right side of that line.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Emmanuel Rodriguezhas always been a patient hitter. It’s been one of his calling cards since the very beginning of his professional baseball career.
But there’s patience, and there’s passivity. And the key for Rodriguez is making sure he’s on the right side of that line. So far this year at Triple-A St. Paul, he has been. That, combined with a welcome stretch of good health, has Rodriguez knocking on the door of the Major Leagues.
It’s probably not imminent. Even with Matt Wallner scuffling in right field for the Twins, it’s worth acknowledging that Rodriguez has work to do. He’s still just 23, still has barely 500 plate appearances in the high Minors, and still has weaknesses in his offensive game. He still has too much swing-and-miss, for one thing.
But it’s not hard to see the progress – not hard to see the tools and evolving skills that have made Rodriguez a Top 100 prospect since he was 19. His recent two-homer game garnered attention, but Rodriguez has been raking all season.
“I’m just trusting my eyes and trying to see those pitches better and be more aggressive in the zone,” Rodriguez said through teammate and interpreter Marco Raya. “Just keep that discipline of recognizing when pitches are good pitches to swing at and when they’re out of the zone, and not be chasing.”
Entering Friday's game against Iowa, Rodriguez sported a .250/.419/.513 line with six homers, 22 walks and 31 strikeouts. He’s not setting the world on fire, but he has been highly productive. He’s also been staying in the lineup, which is always a big deal for a player with a checkered health history.
It follows a tremendous run in winter ball in the Dominican Republic and a strong spring in his first full, healthy big league camp, both of which are experiences he points to as having boosted his confidence.
“It was really good for me,” he said, “being around all those veteran guys and pitchers that execute a lot better than a lot of the guys in the lower Minor Leagues and are smarter and will attack those weak zones more consistently. As well, playing in the D.R., in my homeland, with that pressure, the amount of pressure that holds, I was able to control that and hold those at-bat to at-bat adjustments. That’s helped me gain confidence a lot more.”
https://gopherhole.com/boards/mlbatbat://news?article=prospects-with-interesting-statcast-data-spring-training-2026&lang=en
As for attacking the zone, that’s coming along nicely. Entering play on Thursday, Rodriguez’s in-zone swing rate has climbed from 63.3% in 2025 to 69.6% in 2026. In case you don’t know offhand what normal in-zone swing rates look like, 69.6% would rank around the top 25 percent of qualified Major League hitters this year, while 63.3% would rank in the bottom half. So, while it may not sound like much, it’s a notable difference.
“That's been a work in progress for a while, a point of emphasis for a while,” general manager Jeremy Zoll said recently. “He's had some fits and starts from an injury perspective. That always can throw off that progress. To see him be able to fully put that into play here has been really exciting. … He's doing a ton of damage and putting stuff together really nicely here in this first month in Triple-A.”
Where he could still use improvement is in making contact. His 36.8% swing and miss rate entering Thursday's games is 15th highest among all Triple-A hitters with at least 150 swings, and that’s the kind of thing that big league pitchers would exploit. But again, Rodriguez is 23, and he still has a limited amount of experience above A-ball. It’s not that he can’t or won’t get there.
“There’s a lot of things that I can get better at,” he said. “In general, that’s the main thing I came into the season working on, being a little bit more disciplined at the plate and at the same time being a little bit more aggressive. Outside of that, just making day-to-day adjustments as the game goes and throughout the season.”
They just need to say he's a regular reliever and stop trying to keep him stretched out by throwing 2-3 innings. All of his bad outings have been after 40 + pitches.He’s got a big league arm and I’m excited about his upside
Gopher_In_NYC
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His employers and likely him; I don’t think they care much about the ramblings of Howeda7, maybe Howeda6
You do your learning in the minor leagues - that’s the process and how it’s structured
Maybe because he wasn’t working out in the offseason with a trained
.Being on à big league diamond doesn’t mean he’s less likely to get hurt
. That logically makes zero sense- if you take a deep breath, count yo ten and think it through you’ll see.
Gopher_In_NYC
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Shelton said they’re using him that way for now because they have no one else on the active roster who can - it also helps limit overusing others.
Maybe try visiting your happy place this weekend
Most other teams are much more aggressive in promoting prospects than the Twins. I'm not advocating for something unusual. He has over 400 plate appearance in AAA. Many players skip AAA altogether.His employers and likely him; I don’t think they care much about the ramblings of Howeda7, maybe Howeda6
You do your learning in the minor leagues - that’s the process and how it’s structured
Gopher_In_NYC
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I'm not ripping Shelton, I'm just saying it's a transition that should be made. They essentially did that last night.Shelton said they’re using him that way for now because they have no one else on the active roster who can - it also helps limit overusing others.
Maybe try visiting your happy place this weekend
If there's a blowout, let Bonda or the random 39 year old they called up this week pitch until their arms fall off.