Credit: Meg Vogel via Imagn Content Services, LLC
The Minnesota Twins have had some impressive prospects over the past few decades. Some of the best included Joe Mauer, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Royce Lewis — who were all top-five prospects at some point during their rise through the Twins farm system.
But to this point, none of the former or present Twins named above won the Rookie of the Year award. The closest any of them got was Miguel Sano finishing third back in 2015. To find a past Minnesota Twins rookie of the year winner, you have to set your baseball time machine to 1995.
That was the year that a now 56-year-old Marty Cordova bested Garrett Anderson (Angels) for AL ROY, thanks to an impressive .839 OPS, 24 home runs and 84 RBI in his first season as a Twins outfielder.
Credit: Lou Capozzola-Imagn Images
The MN Twins latest top prospect to receive the type of accolades and projections that Mauer, Sano and Buxton once did is soon to be 21-year-old outfielder Walker Jenkins, who came in at No. 5 this year at Baseball America and is expected to make his MLB debut at some point this season.
But it’s not Jenkins who one expert in the MLB prospect space has as the Twins’ “stealth” candidate for 2026 Rookie of the Year. Instead, he is pointing to a less attention-grabbing prospect for that.
Connor Prielipp building Rookie of the Year steam
Connor Prielipp is a left-handed pitching prospect who has some of the best stuff in the Minnesota Twins organization. Expected to start the season at Triple-A, Kiley McDaniel (ESPN) believes that if Prielipp can stay healthy and crack the big league rotation early enough, he is a guy to watch for ROY.
Keep an eye on Dasan Hill for a possible breakout and also prospect Connor Prielipp as a stealth Rookie of the Year contender if he can get into the rotation in time.
Prielipp ranked 54th on ESPN’s top 100 prospect list, which was done by McDaniel. Last season, the now 25-year-old posted a 4.03 ERA (10.7 SO/9) across 82 2/3 innings (23 starts).
While he struggled in his five Triple A appearances — 5.14 ERA in 21 innings — the sky is the limit on this kid’s future.
Prior to last season, injuries had limited Prielipp to just 58 innings pitched since high school. So the most important part of last season was his workload.
Could Prielipp land in Minnesota Twins bullpen?
If he can’t crack the starting rotation, or his arm isn’t ready to throw that many innings, it’s plausible Prielipp finds a soft big league landing spot as a reliever.
While his ceiling is much higher than the bullpen, it makes sense, as he continues to strengthen out his arm, not to mention how much help the Minnesota Twins need there.
Connor Prielipp slo-mo 😮💨
He has the BEST slider + changeup in the Twins’ system 🔥
See where he lands in Minnesota’s Top 10: https://t.co/xlA1jXZrLJ pic.twitter.com/yYQmJAFThW
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) December 6, 2025
Connor Prielipp’s fastball sat around 95 mph last year. He pairs it with a plus-slider and plus-changeup. He generated nearly a 15% whiff rate last year at Double-A, and can really get in on hitters from the left side.
As a starter, Prielipp has the chops to be a top-two arm. If Minnesota puts him in the rotation at some point, and there will be opportunities, he could shine and contend for yearly honors, like McDaniel predicts he might.
Entering spring training, Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage is the favorite (+220) to win AL rookie of the year. Prielipp, meanwhile, is not on the board.
Mentioned in this article: Connor Prielipp
More About: Minnesota Twins
Add MinnesotaSportsFan as a preferred source on Google.