The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled top pitching prospect Connor Prielipp from Triple-A St. Paul. He’ll make his major league debut tonight, starting their road game against the Mets. Infielder/outfielder Ryan Kreidler was optioned to Triple-A in his place.
Prielipp, 25, was the No. 48 overall draft pick out of Alabama back in 2022. He’s a consensus top-five prospect in the Twins’ system who currently sits 81st on Baseball America’s ranking of the sport’s top 100 prospects. The 6’2″ southpaw has begun his 2026 season with 16 2/3 frames, a 2.30 ERA and a huge 34.9% strikeout rate in Triple-A, but his 12.7% walk rate is obviously higher than Minnesota would prefer.
Health troubles have plagued Prielipp to this point in his career. He dominated when healthy enough to take the mound at Alabama but required Tommy John surgery early in his sophomore season. On stuff alone, he might’ve been a first-round talent, but the injury concerns and the pandemic-impacted 2020 season limited him to only seven starts in his NCAA career. He posted preposterous numbers in that time: a 0.96 ERA with 45.6% strikeout rate against a 6.8% walk rate.
Durability concerns have carried over into Prielipp’s pro career. Renewed elbow troubles in 2023 prompted an internal brace procedure to once again repair his left ulnar collateral ligament. He pitched just 30 innings in his first two pro seasons combined but in 2025 tossed a career-high 82 2/3 frames with a 27% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate.
Prielipp has worked off a four-pitch mix in 2026, sitting 95.7 mph on his four-seamer — up from the 94.8 mph he averaged in his return from surgery last year. He’s largely shelved his sinker this season but incorporated a new curveball that sits in the 82-83 mph range. Prielipp also has a slider and changeup in the upper 80s. All three of his fastball, slider and changeup draw plus grades in Baseball America’s scouting report (60 each on the 20-80 scale). FanGraphs touted the slider as a plus-plus (70) pitch on last season’s scouting report.
Minnesota’s rotation ran into trouble as soon as pitchers and catchers reports. Right-hander Pablo López experienced discomfort in his first bullpen session this spring and wound up requiring UCL surgery that’ll cost him the whole season. David Festa, a former top-100 prospect who was in the rotation mix this spring, suffered a shoulder injury and has yet to pitch in 2026. Right-hander Mick Abel, a former first-round pick and top prospect acquired in the trade sending Jhoan Duran to the Phillies last summer, won a rotation spot in camp but just hit the injured list due to elbow inflammation. He’d just rattled off 13 shutout frames with a 16-to-3 K/BB ratio across his past two starts.
With those injuries impacting the staff, the Twins have Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and breakout candidate Taj Bradley in the rotation at the moment. Prielipp will get at least one crack at forcing his way into the mix, and it’s plausible that he could get a couple looks if he impresses in tonight’s debut. There’s no formal timeline on Abel’s recovery yet, but Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that his MRI results were a best-case scenario: only mild inflammation and no structural damage. Abel will miss at least two starts. Even if he only requires a minimum stint, Woods Richardson has been hit hard in the early-going and could be a bullpen candidate if Prielipp and Abel outpitch him. (Woods Richardson is out of minor league options and thus cannot simply be sent to Triple-A to get back on track.)
The timing of Prielipp’s promotion takes him out of the running for any PPI consideration. He’s also been called up late enough in the season that his only viable path to a full year of major league service would be a top-two finish in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Barring that, he’ll be controllable through at least the 2032 season. If Prielipp is up for good, he’d be on pace for Super Two status, making him arbitration eligible four times rather than three (beginning after the 2028 season). However, he’s in the first of three minor league option years, so he’s hardly a lock to stick in the majors for good from this point forth.
Regardless, Prielipp joins a crop of controllable young arms who can give Twins fans some hope even amid the chaos stemming from last July’s fire sale, an ownership restructuring and the recent departure of president of baseball operations Derek Falvey. Prielipp, Bradley, Abel, Kendry Rojas (called up yesterday), Dasan Hill (another top-100 arm down in Triple-A) and recently recalled righty Andrew Morris are all at or on the cusp of the MLB level. Festa and fellow right-hander Zebby Matthews (currently in Triple-A) were both top-100 talents prior to their debuts but have yet to establish themselves. Bradley is controlled through 2029. The others are all controlled through 2030 or later. The entire group is 25 or younger, with the exception of Festa, who turned 26 a month ago.
