The Twins recalled Connor Prielipp from Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday, and the 25-year-old left-hander is set to make his major league debut that night against the Mets. Ryan Kreidler was optioned to Triple-A to clear the roster spot.
Prielipp arrives with the kind of profile the Twins have been waiting to test. He was the No. 48 overall pick out of Alabama in 2022, is a consensus top-five prospect in Minnesota’s system and is ranked 81st on Baseball America’s top 100 list. In Triple-A this season, he opened with 16 2/3 innings and a 2.30 ERA, striking out 34.9% of batters while walking 12.7%, a sharp enough start to push him into the big leagues.
The organization has been careful with his workload because his career has already been shaped by arm trouble. Prielipp needed Tommy John surgery early in his sophomore season at Alabama, then had renewed elbow problems in 2023 that led to an internal brace procedure on his left ulnar collateral ligament. He threw only 30 innings across his first two professional seasons combined, but he reached a career-high 82 2/3 innings in 2025 and has shown more velocity this year, averaging 95.7 mph on his four-seamer.
The call-up comes as Minnesota leans on a patched-together rotation. Pablo López is out for the season after UCL surgery, David Festa has yet to pitch in 2026 because of a shoulder injury and Mick Abel was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation after 13 shutout innings and a 16-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his previous two starts. For now, the Twins’ rotation includes Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley, and Prielipp is getting his first chance to see whether he can hold a place in that mix.
For Minnesota, the debut is both a reward and a test. Prielipp has finally earned the opportunity, but the larger question is whether a pitcher whose path has been interrupted so often can stay on the mound long enough to matter.