Last year, the Minnesota Twins had one of the best farm systems in baseball. The Twins' talent at the various minor league levels should excite fans about the franchise's future. While veterans Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are poised to lead the Twins, there are young prospects who should make a substantial impact this year, whether in the minor leagues or at the MLB level.
Here are three Twins prospects poised to make 2025 their breakout season.
Zebby Matthews
Matthews comes into this season ranked fourth in Aaron Gleeman's top 40 Twins prospects for 2025. Last year, Matthews was promoted to the Twins in August after blitzing through the minor leagues. While he managed to earn his first MLB win in his rookie debut on August 13th, Matthews endured rookie struggles and finished with a 6.69 ERA in nine games pitched.
However, one cannot expect Matthews' .364 BABIP to repeat. Not to mention, Matthews finished last year with a 5.72 FIP but a 4.05 xFIP, which tells us Matthews was rather unlucky last year.
Now that Matthews has MLB experience, he can take the next step and be a substantial part of the Twins bullpen or rotation with a refined changeup, cutter, or slider. Dan Szymborski's ZiPS projections have Matthews bouncing back after his less-than-stellar 2024 sample size at the major league level.
Emmanuel Rodriguez
While Walker Jenkins deserves the praise as the Twins' current top prospect, Rodriguez is right near Jenkins' level. Unfortunately, injuries curtailed Rodriguez's 2024 season, and a right thumb injury shut him down for the year. Now healthy, Rodriguez will begin this season in Triple-A St. Paul.
There are two factors in favor of Rodgriguez going into this season. Manuel Margot and Max Kepler are gone, and Buxton has a lengthy injury history. In addition, Jenkins has an ETA of 2026, while Rodriguez has an ETA of 2025. If all goes well, look for Rodriguez to debut with the Twins this season.
Charlee Soto
Soto's 1-7 record at Fort Myers left much to be desired, but it was Soto's first season at any level in professional baseball. Despite being only 18 years old, Soto finished with an impressive 10.6 K/9 ratio. Similar to Matthews, Soto's .365 BABIP won't be sustainable.
The 34th overall pick in the MLB Draft was also nearly four years younger in the Florida State League and the age gap showed as he grinded through his first professional season.
Soto will have the opportunity to take a step forward after making 21 appearances in his rookie year and the extra experience could help him climb the ranks in 2025.