4 Twins prospects who impressed in Spring Breakout game

For the first time, MLB held a Spring Breakout game for each team to showcase its top prospect in front of the entire baseball world.

For the Minnesota Twins that means showing off three players who are in the Top 100 (Walker Jenkins missed the game with a quad strain) and a handful of other guys who fans had better start familiarizing themselves with soon. Last season the Twins experienced a youth movement that saw guys like Edouard Julien and Royce Lewis explode onto the scene, with Matt Wallner and Ryan Jeffers peppered in for good measure.

That was merely the first wave of what will be an avalanche of young talent making its way to the majors in the coming years. Saturday's Spring Breakout was a glimpse into that future and it was a sight to behold.

4 Twins prospects who impressed in Spring Breakout game

Charlee Soto, RP

So much has been made this spring about the quick ascension of Brooke Lee, and there could sson be a case for Charlee Soto to be in that same category. He's a bit further behing in his development, but he's already started to show signs of being truly special.

He put that on display in the Spring Breakout game on Saturday. It wasn't his performance -- which was a little all over the place -- rather the raw tools he flashed that jumped out. His fastball topped out at 98.5 MPH, and he had some serious gas behind some sliders and changeups that clocked in around the upper 80s.

Soto throws hard but lacks accuracy, but he's only 18-years-old and has plenty of time to figure things out.

He's still a fresh prospect, having been a first-round comp pick in 2023, but there's a lot to get excited about. If he can figure out his control issues, there's a good chance he shoots up the prospect list next year and could be another fast riser to the MLB roster in a few seasons.

David Festa, SP

Soto was the most exciting young prospect to get a glimpse at, but David Festa was a centerpiece of the afternoon. There's a chance we see him in the majors this year, as he seems to be on a similar trajectory to Bailey Ober and Louie Varland.

Festa gave up a run on a walk and two hits in just under two innings of work, but his stuff looked really solid. One pitch in particular was a sizzler, throwing a near-97 MPH pitch in the first inning. He finished the day with three strikeouts, which is something he can keep building on at St. Paul as he tries to get MLB-ready this year.

It might not be until 2025 that we see Festa truly become part of the plan, but he leads some minor league pitching depth set to debut over the next few years that likely played a role in the Twins easing off the starter market knowing what's in the pipeline.

Brooks Lee, 2B

Most fans were getting their first good look at a majority of the prospects showcased, but Twins fans are very familiar with Brooks Lee's game at this point. He's been highly touted since was pick No. 8 back in 2022 and has lived up to the hype at every turn.

Lee rose all the way up to Triple-A by the end of last summer, and was knocking on the door of an MLB roster spot this spring. Thad Levine has openly teased his arrival, and the Twins traded Jorge Polanco to Seattle in large part to free up room for Lee and other rising infield talent.

Unquestionably, Lee leads that charge.

We've reached a point where it's a matter of when, not if, he'll get called up this season. Lee played in the Spring Breakout game on Saturday, knocking in an RBI in the leadoff spot, and followed that up a day later by hitting a solo home run against the Blue Jays.

That's what we're dealing with, and somehow things are only at their base-level of excitement and potential with Lee.

Gabriel Gonzalez, OF

We finally got a good look at a prospect we've heard so much about in recent months.

Gabriel Gonzalez was acquired as part of the Jorge Polanco trade but he had sort of fallen to the wayside with attention focused on Anthony DeSclafani's injury concerns. Justni Topa was also viewed as perhaps the best MLB piece of the deal, but Gonzalez coming over to Minnesota added a fourth Top 100 prospect to the farm system.

Saturday's showcase was a nice introduction.

Gonzalez is a raw prospect who still needs to work on his plate discpline, but we saw what happens when a guy who swing at just about anything makes solid contact. He produced an RBI double in his second at-bat to help spark an early rally for Minnesota.

He has some ways to go before he's truly being talked about in the vein of Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee but it was hard to dislike any of the immense promise Gonzalez showed on Saturday.

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