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\n \tImage courtesy of Image courtesy of William Parmeter (Marco Raya)\n <\/p>\n
\n\tPart one: #16-20<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAge: 23 \n\tLast year, Raya’s momentum came to a halt in Triple-A. For the first time in his pro career, he was the one looking overwhelmed as walks, wild pitches and laborious outings piled up. It’s a stumble we can excuse, given that Raya arrived in Triple-A as a 22-year-old who was promoted aggressively through the Twins’ system. But now he has to rebound and prove his brutal 2025 was merely a bump in the road.\n<\/p>\n \n\tHe’ll be aiming to do so in the bullpen. Given how little interest the Twins have shown in building up his stamina for a starting workload, this has long appeared to be the plan, but now his conversion to a reliever is all but official. That’s a spot in which Raya has a very good chance to thrive, and perhaps blossom in a late-inning role \u2014 as long as he can throw strikes. For what it’s worth, he’s looked excellent in early spring action.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAge: 18 \n\tThe question with Young is simple: Will he make enough contact to produce? That was the universal knock on him entering the draft. Baseball America describes<\/a> his swing as “long, with a pronounced hitch,” and such issues are not always easily solved for a guy his size. Young struck out nine times in 22 plate appearances during a brief debut at Low-A Fort Myers last year, but it says something about the team’s belief in him that they sent him there directly. He will be a fun one to follow this year.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAge: 21 \n\tWinokur hardly dominated in his first exposure to High-A, posting a sub-.700 OPS in 122 games, but staying healthy and holding his own against more advanced competition was a win in its own right. His 17 homers and 26 steals (on 30 attempts) demonstrate what his athleticism makes possible, and his 24.7% strikeout rate \u2014 while still on the high side \u2014 was a solid improvement over 2024 (28%).\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAge: 24 \n\tThe 2025 season didn’t quite go as planned. He got off to a pretty good start with the Saints, but in late May he started getting hit noticeably harder, and in June he went on the injured list with a forearm strain. That can be an ominous development for pitchers, but Morris came back healthy after six weeks in pitched well down the stretch, with a 3.45 ERA and 29-to-4 K\/BB ratio in 31 \u2153 innings.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tBoasting a six-pitch mix with a mid-90s fastball, Morris doesn’t get tons of whiffs and projects as more of a mid-rotation option than future ace. There’s an argument for eventually having him follow Raya into a relief role<\/a>, but for now Morris is an important piece of starting pitching depth for the Twins.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tAge: 21 \n\tHe didn’t make any official appearances upon joining Twins system last year, but figures to be unleashed in Single-A this year and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares. No one would be surprised to see the hulking hard-thrower blow away young hitters with a fastball that reaches the upper-90s and some legit secondary offerings. Quick may be one of the best-kept secrets in the minors … but not for long.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
2025 Stats (AAA): 98.2 IP, 6.02 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 9.3 K\/9, 5.2 BB\/9
During his rise through the minors, Raya has been a consistent fixture in our rankings despite several things working against him: workload restrictions, shaky control, and results that never quite matched up to the quality of his stuff. But any observer could see that quality on display \u2014 hard, high-spin breaking balls that gave older and more experienced hitters fits.\n<\/p>\n
2025 Stats (A): 22 PA, .118\/.227\/.118, 0 HR, 3 RBI
The Twins were thinking big \u2014 literally and figuratively \u2014 when they used their second-round pick, 54th overall, to select Young in last year’s draft. Turning 19 in a few days, the former prep star is already a massive specimen at 6-foot-6 and 225 lbs. His throwing and swinging strength are immense, casting the potential for a star slugger at third base or an outfield corner. (There’s no way he’s sticking at shortstop, even if it’s technically his current position.)\n<\/p>\n
2025 Stats (A+):\u00a0529 PA, .226\/.304\/.388, 17 HR, 68 RBI
It’s fitting that Winokur is right next to Young in these rankings because his story and traits are remarkably similar. He’s a huge right-handed hitter (6-foot-6, 210) drafted highly out of high school (third round in 2023) on the basis of his tantalizing raw tools. Like Young, Winokur shows uncommon defensive ability for a player his size, and spent a majority of his time at shortstop or center field in Cedar Rapids last year, though he did start to break in more at third.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
2025 Stats (AAA): 94.2 IP, 4.09 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 8.5 K\/9, 2.7 BB\/9
A fourth-round draft pick out of Texas Tech in 2022, Morris enjoyed moderate success in his first full season before experiencing a full-on breakthrough in 2024. He started in High-A and finished with an effective seven-start stint at Triple-A, posting a 2.37 ERA across three levels and positioning himself for a potentially imminent big-league call-up.\n<\/p>\n
2025 Stats: DNP
Quick is the third player among the five highlighted here who’s listed at 6-foot-6, but the first who takes that size advantage to the pitching mound. Minnesota selected the big righty out of Alabama with their supplemental first-round pick last year, 36th overall, after he struck out 72 hitters in 60 innings with a 3.95 ERA for the Tide in his return from Tommy John surgery.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n