Emmanuel

Rodriguez

Rodriguez’s first round-tripper of the season traveled a whopping 451 feet and left his bat at 113.6 mph. That’ll work. The 23-year-old top prospect’s stock has slipped a bit over the past calendar year as injuries limited him to just 65 games in the minors last season. His blend of power and patience should make him an impactful fantasy contributor once he reaches the majors. There’s zero incentive for the rebuilding Twins to rush him, but he figures to make it to Minnesota at some point later this year.

By moving nine players out of big league camp on Monday, the Twins are now down to 49 players remaining. Rodriguez, 23, was absolutely sizzling at the plate in Grapefruit League play — hitting .421 (8-for-19) with a pair of homers and four RBI. As long as he’s able to stay healthy, it shouldn’t be long before he breaks through and makes his debut with the Twins.

He is 3-for-4 in his two games this spring. Rodriguez has had huge problems staying in the field, but he shines when healthy, having hit .254/.424/.488 with 50 homers and 59 steals in 295 games over five minor league seasons. It’ll be fascinating to see if he either or Walker Jenkins can break into the Minnesota outfield sometime this summer.

Rodriguez, who went 4-for-18 in five Low-A rehab games, has been out since mid-July with a strained oblique. He previously missed a month with a hip injury, so he’s taken part in just 43 games for St. Paul this year, hitting .254/.411/.428.

Rodriguez was activated off the IL earlier in the day after being out with a hip injury since May 30. It was quite the return for the Twins’ top prospect, who is the 46th-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. With trade rumors swirling around Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, and Willi Castro, there’s a chance we could see Rodriguez up in Minnesota at the end of this season if he can remain healthy.

Nothing specific regarding the exact nature of the injury, but Rodriguez is going to miss some time. The 22-year-old top prospect has gotten off to a slow start this season at Triple-A St. Paul, hitting .232/.400/.392 with four homers and six steals across 39 games. He remains a top-40 range prospect for dynasty purposes given his plate skills and power combination.

No real surprise here after Wallner was lifted from Tuesday’s contest and underwent an MRI on Wednesday that revealed a left hamstring strain. No word yet on how much time he’s slated to miss, but fantasy managers should anticipate him missing at least a couple weeks, even if it’s a relatively mild strain. There should be some clarity on his status in the near future. His absence opens the door for DaShawn Keirsey Jr. to play regularly, but we can’t rule out the possibility the struggling Twins decide to call up top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez to give them a spark.

Rodriguez appears to be one of the game’s best prospects in those rare instances that he’s able to take the field. He went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk in the Saints’ opener Friday before missing time. He hit .280/.459/.567 in 47 games last year, with most of them in Double-A.

Rodriguez got on-base four times as the Saints piled up a staggering 11 runs on 18 hits during Friday’s Triple-A opener against Indianapolis. The 22-year-old corner outfielder’s blend of patience and prodigious over-the-fence pop is going to make him an impactful fantasy contributor once he reaches the big leagues. He’s also capable of swiping the occasional base too. He checked in as the 20th-ranked prospect (103rd overall) in Rotoworld’s latest dynasty rankings update. He should arrive in Minnesota by midseason.

The headliner here is Rodriguez, though the Twins’ top prospect was never really a candidate to break camp with the big league club — especially after missing time with an ankle injury during spring camp. Dobnak could have potentially pushed to make the Opening Day roster in a long reliever role, but he’ll begin the season as extra depth at the Triple-A level instead. Ramirez could have been an option for the bullpen, but suffered a “significant tear” in his shoulder earlier in the week.