Minnesota Twins: Ranking the Top 5 Prospects We should See in 2022

The Minnesota Twins farm system is one of the better groups in Major League baseball, ranking 15th in the league by MLB.com. That may seem low, but with most of their top prospects at Double-AA or higher, the Twins are reaping the rewards of maintaining a deep and stable wealth of young talent.

Despite the graduation of Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers, and Bailey Ober, this system still has plenty of talent within its ranks and the potential for several MLB regulars to bolster the roster for the 2022 Twins.

The Minnesota Twins will see a several prospects debut next year, so we broke down the 5 best.

Similar to those four players, the Twins will likely see several names on the prospect list make their first big league appearance next year, especially if the team doesn’t make enough moves to get back in contention.

For this list, we’ll rank the best players that we should see in the upcoming year. We won’t include players like Joe Ryan, Edwar Colina, or Jovani Moran, as the trio have made their big league debuts already (despite still being considered prospects).

I’ll also get this out of the way too: Royce Lewis and Austin Martin don’t make an appearance here either. If either player makes the big league roster out of training camp, I’ll be stunned. I don’t realistically expect the duo to make a big impact on the roster until 2023.

The rankings will be based off of three things: overall prospect ranking, usefulness to the Twins, and when in the season they’re likely to be called up. With 8 of the Twins Top 10 prospects at AA or higher, this should be a fun list. Let’s get it started as we always do with a couple of honorable mentions.

Minnesota Twins Prospect Honorable Mentions

3B/2B/SS Spencer Steer (No. 23 Prospect)

2021 Stats: 110 G, .254/.348/.484, 82 R, 45 XBH (24 HR), 66 RBI, 8 SB, 55-105 BB-K

Spencer Steer was the Twins’ third round pick out of Oregon in 2019 and was seen as a solid polished hitter. He has quickly and quietly risen through the club ranks, making it to Double-AA in just two years of pro ball.

Steer drives the ball well and has solid speed, but he doesn’t have any elite tools which is why he ranks so low despite really solid production in his two years. His numbers kind of look like Jose Miranda’s with less power before this year, and I could see him making a similar jump if his contact picks up.

He misses the list because he’s pretty unlikely to be a consistent contributor in the major leagues in 2022 due to the positions he plays and the fact that he’s behind Miranda in the organizational depth chart. Look for him to start at Triple-AAA and try and make the jump.

RHP Cole Sands (No. 19 Prospect)

2021 Stats: 19 G, 18 GS, 80.1 IP, 4-2, 2.46 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 96-35 K-BB

One of the most underrated prospects in the Twins’ system, Cole Sands doesn’t have all the upside in the world, but he can put up numbers. The 2018 5th Round Pick has made a similar jump to Steer, moving through three levels in two years of pro ball.

His fastball has good life and has touched mid-90s in the past, while he’s continued to develop his curveball and changeup. The curve has a lot of good break on it while the changeup is hard to differentiate from his fastball so it gets outs.

Unfortunately for Sands, he’s in the same situation as Steer. Despite his production, he plays a position that’s very hard to break onto the Minnesota Twins roster as they would rather continue to give Griffin Jax starts. He’s also behind several starters on the organization’s depth chart.

He’ll start 2022 at Triple-AAA and will have the whole season to show the Twins why he can be a part of their rotation. With three rotation slots open at the end of 2021, hopefully Sands can make his way to the rotation by the end of 2022.

Minnesota Twins Prospect No. 5: RHP Drew Strotman (No. 17 Prospect)

2021 Stats: 23 G, 22 GS, 105.1 IP, 9-4, 5.38 ERA, 1.547 WHIP, 100-58 K-BB

The OTHER prospect that the Minnesota Twins got back from Nelson Cruz trade, Drew Strotman is an interesting pitcher to think about going forward. Strotman is a very streaky prospect and has struggled since coming to St. Paul, but there’s a lot to like there.

The 25-year-old offers a good four-seam fastball, a great cutter, an above-average slider, an okay curveball and a changeup that he’s working on. A five-pitch mix on a former reliever who has a low mileage on his arm offers a lot of upside.

His command could use some work, as he still walks a lot of batters, but he does generate some strikeouts. If the Twins elect to move him into a long reliever or setup man role, he could become even more successful, but there’s not a lot of evidence of that happening.

Starter or reliever, Strotman just turned 25, the age when teams really try and get their prospects to the bigs. As a pitcher with a full season’s worth of experience at Triple-AAA, he’ll be one of the first names to be called up in 2022 and will surely pitch plenty in Spring Training. He makes this list almost on opportunity alone.

Minnesota Twins Prospect No. 4: RHP Jhoan Duran (No. 5 Prospect)

2021 Stats: 5 G, 4 GS, 16 IP, 0-3, 5.06 ERA, 1.813 WHIP, 22-13 K-BB

Jhoan Duran has been mentioned in the same breath as other top pitching prospect Jordan Balazovic for a long time, and for good reason. The duo is expected to be at the front of the Twins’ rotation in the coming years, with potential oozing from both pitchers.

Going into 2021, Duran was expected to push through the last level of the minors quickly and possibly even debut this year en route to starting the 2022 season in the rotation. Unfortunately, the plan has changed after an elbow strain has cost Duran the majority of his season.

There really isn’t doubt in anyone’s mind that Duran will be in the rotation soon, as his elite fastball and splitter duo leads to a lot of missed bats. If his curveball continues to get stronger, his elite upside potential could finally be reached.

Like Strotman, Duran starting the year in the majors is very unlikely, but not impossible if he has a good Spring Training. With an injury or two to whatever pitchers end up in the rotation next year, Duran will almost certainly debut next year. If he pitches like we know he can, he’ll be a mainstay by the end of 2022.

Minnesota Twins Prospect No. 3: Josh Winder (No. 9 Prospect)

2021 Stats: 14 G, 14 GS, 72 IP, 4-0, 2.63 ERA, 0.944 WHIP, 80-13 K-BB

One of the fastest rising prospects in the Twins’ system, Josh Winder represented the Twins at the All-Star futures game this year after putting together a truly dominant stat line over ten starts at Double-AA Wichita. Winder put together a 1.98 ERA and 0.933 WHIP with a dazzling 65-10 K-BB ratio.

He earned a promotion to Triple-AAA, but made just four starts before being shut down with a shoulder injury in August. This put a damper on what had been an incredible season to that point. It also cast doubt on whether he will be making it to the majors in the near future.

He boasts a big 6’5″ frame that helped add velocity to his pitches, a mix that includes a fastball that touches upper 90s. His curveball improved with the added velocity, and his changeup looks better with his other pitches gaining speed.

There was a possibility that Winder could have made a spot start or two for the Twins in late September had he not gotten hurt, but now he’s likely to start the year in Triple-AAA next season and will be joining Duran, Strotman, and one final pitcher on this list trying to land a spot in the major league rotation.

The Twins really like what they’ve seen from Winder, and I’m sure that he’ll get ample chance to make the rotation by the end of the year. With fourteen games at the upper minors under his belt this year, I’d guess that he makes it up before Duran (and Balazovic as well).

Minnesota Twins Prospect No. 2: Jordan Balazovic (No. 3 Prospect)

2021 Stats: 20 G, 20 GS, 97 IP, 5-4, 3.62 ERA, 1.402 WHIP, 102-38 K-BB

The Minnesota Twins’ top pitching prospect and the pitcher they expect to turn out the best is nearing the majors after his fifth season in the minor leagues. Jordy Blaze got a late start to the season due to injury, but he’s been very solid since.

As his nickname suggests, Balazovic has a stellar fastball, but he compliments that pitch with a strong slider and a steadily improving changeup. His command and control are both excellent, as he limits walks and racks up strikeouts. 2021 hasn’t been his best season, but it’s been close enough to normal that there isn’t real concern.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Twins open the year with Balazovic in the rotation to start the year if he has a strong Spring Training, but again, the most likely outcome here is to start the season in Triple-AAA (A rotation of Balazovic, Duran, Winder, Sands, and Strotman would look really nice to start the year).

If the Twins look to compete next year and sign three veterans to compliment young arms Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan, expect Balazovic to make it to the bigs early next season with the other four sure to follow.