St. Paul Saints Opening Day Roster Littered with Top Prospect Talent

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Credit: William Parmeter

The Minnesota Twins start their 2026 regular season on Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles. A day later, their Triple-A affiliate (the St. Paul Saints) begin their season in Indianapolis.

Although there are uncertainties regarding the competitiveness of the big league club — projected for just 78 wins by PECOTA, and 72.5 at various sportsbooks — the top minor league team looks loaded… at least on Opening Day. How long all that sticks around the other side of the river is another question.

For now, if you’d rather not give your money to the Pohlads, then you can head over to Lowertown and get your fill of high-end baseball talent by taking in a Saints game.

Four top 100 prospects highlight MN Twins Triple-A roster

New MN Twins manager Derek Shelton and general manager Jeremy Zoll opted to keep veteran retreads like Trevor Larnach and James Outman on the 26-man roster.

Thus, new St. Paul Saints manager Brian Dinkelman get top 100 prospects, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Kaelen Culpepper and Connor Prielipp on his Opening Day roster..

After some injury scares earlier this spring (Jenkins missed time during Grapefruit League play with a hamstring injury that cost him his showcase in the Spring Breakout game) each of the above top prospects are healthy and ready to go Friday, which is good news considering.

What to expect in St. Paul for April

Culpepper gets to Triple-A after finishing his 2025 season at Double-A Wichita. He batted .285/.367/.460 in 59 games with the Wind Surge. A strong start could quickly put him in consideration for a big league promotion depending on how Minnesota Twins starter Brooks Lee gets out of the gate.

Both Jenkins and Rodriguez are among the highest ranked prospect in the sport. Each of them has the capability to play centerfield, which makes them a logical replacement for any of the corner outfielders, as well as a rotation fit with Byron Buxton.

Prielipp was considered a potential high-upside bullpen arm but remained stretched out as a starter this spring. He’ll need to dial in the command and control a bit more, but Prielipp is a high-octane lefty with legit strikeout stuff.

Other intriguing names to follow on the Saints roster include Alex Jackson, Aaron Sabato, Tanner Schobel, Kyler Fedko, Marco Raya, and Alan Roden. Roden will certainly be the first man up in the outfield as he was squeezed despite a .302/.362/.395 batting line this spring, solely because he had options remaining.

Minnesota Twins pitching prospect starts year injured

When the MN Twins sent Louie Varland (and Ty France) to the Toronto Blue Jays, they did so because of the value believed to be tied into Kendry Rojas. The fringe top 100 lefty struggled when he got to Triple-A, and now he’ll begin 2026 on the injured list with a hamstring strain.

Rojas posted a 6.59 ERA with the Saints in 27 1/3 innings last season. The ball is different at Triple-A, which took getting used to, and he had to acclimate to a new organization as well. It’s plenty sensible to suggest that could simply be an outlier for the 23-year-old. We’ll need to see evidence of that though this season.

How long Rojas remains shelved remains to be seen. The hope would be that it’s a short-term situation, and he can rejoin the rotation in short order. With John Klein, Andrew Morris, Zebby Matthews, and Prielipp already penciled in, the group Dinkelman has at his disposal is strong.

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