Five players stick out for top honors in Twins farm system

Minor league seasons are nearing an end with Class A playoffs beginning next week and the Class AA postseason starting in two weeks.

It’s been an up-and-down year for the Twins’ farm system with injuries taking a toll on many of their top prospects. But there are still several players who had breakout seasons or confirmed their status as a top-rated player.

Below is a look at five candidates for the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year (statistics through Wednesday):

OF Gabriel Gonzalez, 21, St. Paul (AAA): In 112 games across three minor league levels, Gonzalez posted a .326 batting average, .396 on-base percentage and a .505 slugging percentage. If he raises his OBP by a few points, he would be one of the rare minor leaguers to achieve a .300/.400/.500 slash line, particularly at his age.

He had a middling 2024 season, brought into the organization as the headline prospect from the Jorge Polanco trade with Seattle, as he dealt with a back injury. This was a key bounceback season, reclaiming status as one of the top outfield prospects in the team’s farm system, and he produced 13 homers, 33 doubles, 60 RBI and 69 runs

After starting the year in High-Class A Cedar Rapids, the 5-11 righthanded-hitting Gonzalez has pushed himself to the doorstep of the big leagues. The Twins need to add him to their 40-man roster this winter to protect him from the annual Rule 5 Draft.

SS Kaelen Culpepper, 22, Wichita (AA): In his first full pro season, the No. 21 pick in the 2024 MLB draft hit .295 with 19 homers, 16 doubles, 63 RBI and 73 runs in 106 games. He has played a solid shortstop, too, solidifying his status as one of the top prospects in the farm system.

OF Kala’i Rosario, 23, Wichita: Returning to Wichita for a second consecutive year, Rosario looks like an improved player in essentially every area. He hit .259 with 25 homers, 26 doubles, 81 RBI, 85 runs and 25 stolen bases in 119 games.

Rosario had a slow start to the season, striking out in 29 of his first 56 plate appearances, but he posted a .905 OPS in 105 games afterward. The righthanded batter had an incredible August, pushing Wichita back into the playoff race, with 11 homers, 23 RBI and 27 runs in 27 games.

No team selected him out of the Rule 5 Draft last winter, but he will be eligible to be taken again if the Twins don’t add him to their 40-man roster in November.

OF Walker Jenkins, 20, St. Paul: The consensus top-ranked prospect in the farm system missed much of the first two months because of a high ankle sprain, but he has lived up to his billing when he’s been on the field. Limited to 69 games, he hit .289 with eight homers, 13 doubles, 27 RBI and 45 runs.

Compiling almost as many walks (46) as strikeouts (57), the lefty batter posted a .414 on-base percentage as one of the youngest players in the upper levels of the minor leagues while stealing 14 bases in 18 attempts.

OF Kyler Fedko, 25, St. Paul: Unlike the other players mentioned, Fedko doesn’t show up on top prospect lists. A 12th-round pick in 2021 out of UConn, he has emerged as a guy who could reach the big leagues after he worked on improving his bat speed.

In 114 games, mostly at Wichita, he hit .266 with 26 homers, 22 doubles, 76 RBI, 83 runs and 33 stolen bases. He draws a lot of walks, owning a .376 on-base percentage, and he’s posted a .921 OPS in his first 29 games at AAA.

Three months after Pablo López went on the injured list because of a strained muscle in his right shoulder, the righthander is set to rejoin the Twins roster Friday at Kansas City.

The Twins haven’t announced it because they need to make a roster move to activate López from the IL, but López completed his Class AAA rehab assignment after he made three minor league starts. He pitched 5⅔ innings in his last outing, so he should be without any restrictive pitch count limitations in his big-league return.

Joe Ryan is scheduled to pitch Saturday and Bailey Ober is slated for Sunday. The Twins will have six healthy starters when López is activated, but manager Rocco Baldelli didn’t anticipate using a six-man rotation for the remainder of the year.

• Byron Buxton was out of the lineup Thursday. Baldelli was targeting an off day for the All-Star center fielder, ahead of playing in Kansas City, and ended up picking a game that didn’t start until there was a rain delay of 90 minutes.