Minnesota
2026 Minnesota Twins Top 30 Prospects May Update
Earlier this week, Baseball America published Top 30 Prospects updates for all 30 MLB organizations. Now, we’re digging deeper into May changes with all-new write-ups on prospect additions, risers, fallers, injuries and graduations for each club.
Read on below for Twins prospect updates featuring in-depth new intel on top names to know, potential breakouts and lots more. You can find May write-ups for all 30 teams here.
Minnesota Twins Top 30 Prospect Additions
28. C.J. Culpepper, RHP
BA Grade: 40/Average
Track Record: Culpepper was a 13th-round pick out of Cal Baptist in 2022. He entered 2025 just outside the Twins’ Top 10 prospects, but a pinched nerve delayed the start of his season and continued to bother him throughout the year, limiting him to just 59.1 innings. He returned to Wichita to start 2026, and his velocity returned.
Scouting Report: Culpepper has a starter’s build and an effortful but deceptive delivery. His stuff backed up in 2025, with his fastball sitting 91-94 mph and topping out at 95. His velocity returned in 2026, and he’s been sitting 93-95 mph and topping out at 97. His control, which was once a weapon, regressed as well. His slider remains his best pitch with sweepy shape and above-average whiff and chase rates. He can struggle to land it in the zone, though, contributing to his higher walk rate. Culpepper also has a fringy cutter that he can throw for strikes and will also show a below-average changeup on occasion.
The Future: Culpepper impressed working in short stints as a starter to start 2026 and was promoted to Triple-A St. Paul, where he’s now working in relief. He has a chance to make his major league debut this year out of the bullpen.
Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 40 | Cutter: 45 | Control: 45.
29. Ben Ross, SS/3B
BA Grade: 40/Average
Track Record: Ross was a fifth-round pick out of Division II Notre Dame in Ohio. He reached Double-A in his first full season in 2023, but saw his bat stagnate there and has started the season there each of the last three seasons. He finally broke out at the plate in 2026, earning a promotion to Triple-A St. Paul. Ross is an extremely versatile defender and has played every position except pitcher and catcher in his minor league career.
Scouting Report: The righthanded-hitting Ross has an average, athletic frame with no remaining projection. He has a fluid swing and solid feel for contact. He makes good swing decisions and will take what the pitcher gives him. Ross’ exit velocities have improved dramatically in 2026, changing his offensive projection. His 90th-percentile exit velocity has increased more than 3 mph, and his hard-hit rate has improved drastically. Ross has the tools to play shortstop, but is also capable of playing all over the diamond. He has good range and soft hands and is a very instinctual defender. His arm is average, but he has a quick release. Ross is only an average runner, but has solid baserunning instincts.
The Future: Ross’ defense gives him a high floor as an up-and-down player, but his ability to stick on a major league roster long term will depend on how his bat develops. If it continues to improve, he has utility upside.
Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 50 | Field: 60 | Arm: 50.
30. Alejandro Hidalgo, RHP
BA Grade: 45/High
Track Record: The Twins acquired Hidalgo from the Angels in November 2022 for Gio Urshela. He missed the entire 2024 season with a right shoulder impingement and struggled in 2025 between High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita. He transitioned to the bullpen in 2026 and has seen his stuff take off.
Scouting Report: Hidalgo is a medium-framed righthander with a max-effort delivery. His velocity has improved drastically in 2026, jumping from sitting 93-95 mph and maxing out at 97 to sitting 96-98 mph and touching 99. The pitch has generated whiffs, but his control is a work in progress and has led to elevated walk and home run rates. Hidalgo complements it with a pair of bat-missing secondaries: a mid-80s changeup and high-80s slider.
The Future: Hidalgo’s improved stuff has him back on the prospect radar. He has major league reliever upside, but will need to show more consistency with his command and control to reach his potential.
Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 30.
Minnesota Twins Prospect Graduations
None.
Minnesota Twins Prospect Risers
Riley Quick, RHP: Quick has shown dominant stuff in his professional debut and jumped from outside the top 10 into a spot where he might push for the Top 100 at some point this year. His fastball is sitting 95-98 mph, and his cut-slider complements it well by generating weak contact. He goes to his slider and changeup when he needs to miss bats, and both have whiff rates over 50%.
Ryan Gallagher, RHP: Gallagher’s fastball velocity is up, which has elevated his north-south arsenal. His changeup is still missing bats at a high rate, and his slider has also been effective. His strike-throwing has backed up some in Triple-A, but if that improves after he adjusts to the new level, he has a chance to develop into a back-end starter.
Minnesota Twins Prospect Fallers
Marco Raya, RHP: Raya ranked 21st coming into the season, but has struggled in his first full season pitching exclusively in relief, even though he is repeating Triple-A. His stuff will still show flashes, but it lacks consistency, and he has given up a lot of hard contact early in the season.
Minnesota Twins Prospect Injuries
- Outfielder Walker Jenkins was placed on the 7-day injured list after he suffered a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his left shoulder when he crashed into the outfield wall making a catch.
- Outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez was placed on the 7-day injured list after spraining his left thumb while sliding into first base.
- Righthander Charlee Soto’s debut has been delayed by minor wrist soreness that popped up while he was rehabbing from elbow surgery at the end of the 2025 season.
- Righthander James Ellwanger is out indefinitely with a right elbow strain.
- Righthander Adrian Bohorquez is out indefinitely with a right forearm strain.
- Righthander Santiago Castellanos is still building up from a triceps issue that has delayed the start of his Florida Complex League season.
- Righthander Jose Olivares’ start to the season was delayed a few weeks as he rehabbed from bone spur surgery after the 2025 season.
- Righthander Matt Barr is still rehabbing from a stress fracture in his forearm.
Fires in the past burned more frequently in western Canada, but recent years have seen that trend migrate eastward, with large fires now burning in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic provinces, Prof Chasmer said, leading to more noticeable smoke in densely populated cities like Toronto and New York.
Minnesota United, the Liberia Lone Star National Football Team and SARX today announced that the international friendly against the Liberia National Team, scheduled for July 26, 2026, has been canceled.
While we were looking forward to welcoming the Liberia National Team and celebrating the strong ties between Minnesota’s Liberian community and our club, circumstances outside of our control have made it necessary to cancel the match. We appreciate the understanding of our supporters and wish the Liberia National Team all the best.
Fans who purchased tickets to the match will be refunded within approximately 3-10 business days.
Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution.
Over 100 wildfires currently are burning in Canada and winds are carrying the smoke southeast. Warnings about dangerous, unhealthy air extended Wednesday from Minnesota through Toronto and into New York. Unusually hot summer temperatures were expected too.
The best advice is to stay indoors to avoid both the smoke and the extreme heat, said Tyler Hasenstein, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
“Those two things coinciding with each other is not good from a health perspective,” he said.
Rangers try to get thousands of campers out of remote Minnesota wilderness
In far northeastern Minnesota, rangers were trying to warn people that the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was closed Tuesday because about 17 fires caused by lightning more than a week ago were spreading through the vast wilderness accessible primarily by canoe.
Rangers estimated anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 people were inside the 1.1-million-acre wilderness, which is almost the size of Delaware, Superior National Forest spokesperson Joy VanDrie said.
“It’s an arduous job,” VanDrie said of rangers and campers having to canoe for hours or even carry their boats over land to evacuate.
No injuries or deaths have been reported. Rangers were going through every lake and waterway and officials estimated they had about 90% of the people out Wednesday.
Campers rescued this week said skies quickly darkened from smoke and they could feel the heat as they paddled or were taken by boat to safety.
Jan Bailey was camping with her husband, daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren and three dogs when they noticed wispy smoke on the horizon. Two hours later, they could see a raging firestorm. A paddleboarder with a satellite phone fled to their campsite and they called forestry rangers who sent a boat to rescue them and others.
“We had fire on both sides of us at that time,” Bailey told Minnesota Public Radio. “So we’re just weaving between the lakes. It’s a little smoky. Campsites are going up.”
Even the Canadian Air Force pitched in. They rescued two groups of youth campers Wednesday who had crossed the border. One group was stuck on an isolated sandbar, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said.
VanDrie didn’t know when the area might reopen. Minnesota officials said some fires in the Boundary Waters will be allowed to burn indefinitely but will be monitored to ensure they don’t threaten people or property.
Severe drought and heat have led to a busy wildfire season
Dan Westervelt, associate professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, said severe drought conditions combined with heat in Canada and the U.S. have created “a perfect storm for really dry conditions to provide a lot of fuel for these wildfires to burn.” Research shows warming temperatures from burning coal, oil and gas are making fires more frequent and intense.
High levels of fine particulate matter in the air from wildfire smoke may be unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as children and people with heart or lung conditions. The particulates can cause shortness of breath, coughing, dizziness or fatigue and aggravate heart and lung diseases and other chronic health issues.
Experts suggest wearing a N95 mask if you have to be outside and keeping your indoor air cleaner by closing windows and running an air purifier or air conditioner.
It’s been a particularly busy and deadly fire season in the U.S. About four dozen large fires are currently burning across 15 states, from Minnesota and North Carolina to Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Prolonged drought and record-low snowpack levels combined to make conditions ripe for rapid fire growth. More than 16,800 people are assigned to fighting blazes across the county. The fires have burned over 5,678 square miles (9,138 square kilometers) — more than the size of Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks combined, the agency said.
Comparison view of clear vs. smoky conditions in Larsen, Wisconsin:
Smoke spreads as officials warn wildfires could burn for months
In Minnesota, officials warned large fires could burn for months. In Minneapolis, the high Wednesday was expected to be 96 degrees F and temperatures above 90 F were expected the rest of the week.
“It could well be we’re having significant fires throughout the summer until we have snow. Snow would be a good thing,” said Patty Thielen, director of the state Department of Natural Resources.
Officials in Michigan and Wisconsin warned residents about air quality issues that could last for days and the problems extended even to Maine, where residents were reporting a yellowish and brownish color in the sky.
The most intense smoke could spread as far south as Washington, D.C., by midday Thursday.
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Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan and Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.
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