Minnesota Twins 2024 MLB Draft Review

Draft Theme: Day Three College Arms

The Twins stacked three college hitters with their first three picks of the draft, including contact-oriented bats like SS Kaelen Culpepper and SS Kyle DeBarge, and the power-over-hit corner profile of 3B Billy Amick. After that, Minnesota added an upside play with high school LHP Dasan Hill in the second supplemental round. What stood out to me with Minnesota’s draft was the quantity of college arms the team took on the third day. The Twins have been one of the very best teams at identifying and developing late-round college pitchers in recent years, and they tied for the most four-year righthanders of any team in this draft, with 11. Once the seventh round began for Minnesota, it was an extremely college pitcher heavy draft.

Most Interesting Day 2 Pick: C Derek Bender, 6th round

Bender played in just 22 games as a freshman for Coastal Carolina in 2022 before a breakout 2023 season that included 19 home runs during the spring as well as a standout summer in the Cape Cod League following the season. In his three years with Coastal, Bender slashed .326/.408/.570 with 32 home runs, a 15.4% strikeout rate and a 9.1% walk rate. He’s a strongly-built righthanded hitter with a 6-foot-1, 235-pound frame and the strength to drive the ball out of the park to all fields. He has a simple and surprisingly compact swing and generates power more via strength than bat speed, but employs an overly aggressive approach and chased out of the zone at a 31% clip this spring. There are also some questions about his ability to consistently handle premium velocity, which raises questions about whether his hit and power combination will translate to pro ball. While Bender has spent some time behind the dish in college most scouts think he’ll need to move to first base which puts plenty of pressure on his offensive profile. Old school scouts and analysts seem a bit split on Bender’s profile, with the former being lower and the latter being higher, though he should fit somewhere in the 4-7 round range.

Most Interesting Day 3 Pick: RHP Michael Ross, 18th round

Ross is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound righthander who missed the 2023 season with injury but came back in 2024 and turned in a career year. He posted a 3.27 ERA over 96.1 innings and 15 starts with a 22% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate. Ross throws his fastball in the low 90s and will touch 94 and mixes in a low-80s changeup and slow and slurvy slider in the upper 70s. He’s been a strong strike-thrower throughout his career and owns a 5.8% career walk rate with Samford.