Hello everyone! Welcome to our new Daily Question series for the month of February. With Spring Training around the corner, we want to hear what you think 2026 holds for your Minnesota Twins. Let’s get excited for baseball!
If the Twins are going to compete for a division title in 2026, they’re going to need some young players step up and take the reigns. We all know what Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan, and Pablo Lopez can do, but a big part of Minnesota’s underperformance in recent seasons came due to the lack of development from the young bats in particular.
In fact, the Twins’ two best seasons in recent memory came on the backs of those breakouts. 2019 saw Mitch Garver (3.9 fWAR), Max Kepler (3.9), Jorge Polanco (3.3), and Jake Odorizzi (4.3) emerge for the best seasons of their careers in their mid-to-late twenties. 2023 saw the same from Edouard Julien (2.7) and Willi Castro (2.5), while Lopez (4.6) and Sonny Gray (5.4) took a massive leap from mid-rotation arms to All-Stars.
The obvious candidates are ones who have shown flashes but need to be consistent. Ryan Jeffers is in line to get there with his projected increased workload. Matt Wallner, Luke Keaschall, and Zebby Matthews should reach the 3.0 fWAR threshold if they can stay on the field. Royce Lewis made big strides in the health and defense departments in 2025, but he hasn’t hit well since before the 2024 trade deadline. Brooks Lee is in line to play shortstop every day and, without a clear backup, will get every opportunity in the world to prove he can stick.
Or perhaps an advanced prospect will come up and surprise us like Julien, Lewis, and Wallner did in 2023. Consensus top 20 prospect Walker Jenkins is on the doorstep should any of the regular outfield starters miss extended time. The same can be said for Emmanuel Rodriguez, though he’s much more in the Wallner feast-or-famine mold and won’t have as much runway.
Personally, my money is on Lee who has a chance to settle into the position he’s played his whole life and has shown great bat control already. If he can improve his eye at the plate and take a few more walks, his big frame should allow him to tap more into his power as he’s more selective with the pitches he attacks. But which Twin do you see taking a leap in 2026?
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