The St. Paul Saints, the Minnesota Twins‘ Triple-A affiliate, have to be one of the most talented teams in the minor leagues judging by the talent they boast.
The team has become the Twins’ perfect place to stash the stars of the tomorrow as they gain valuable experience for a potential future role in MLB.
For example, Royce Lewis, who was off to a fast start of his majors career, is now back in St. Paul playing every day instead of spending a lot of time on the MLB bench as Carlos Correa‘s replacement.
Alex Kirilloff, who impressed as a young prospect last season with the big league club, has been a bit banged up this season and is getting valuable at-bats in Triple-A instead of sitting out of the Twins’ outfield rotation.
The manager likes to play Gilberto Celestino and Trevor Larnach (when healthy), and Byron Buxton and Max Kepler are regulars.
“Royce Lewis is the Triple-A lineup tonight, playing shortstop and leading off for the @StPaulSaints. Alex Kirilloff is playing first base and batting second. And the #MNTwins top pitching prospect, Jordan Balazovic, is on the mound,” Twins insider Aaron Gleeman tweeted on Thursday.
Royce Lewis is the Triple-A lineup tonight, playing shortstop and leading off for the @StPaulSaints.
Alex Kirilloff is playing first base and batting second.
And the #MNTwins top pitching prospect, Jordan Balazovic, is on the mound.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 19, 2022
The Twins Have Some Good Prospects
That lineup should be loaded, with those two at the top.
As for Balazovic, he had a 3.62 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 97 Double-A innings last year: if he masters Triple-A, there is a chance we see him in the majors later in the summer.
The Saints also had current MLB contributors Josh Winder and Jhoan Duran for some time last year.
The Twins do have an impressive collection of young talent, and some of them are helping the club now.
Those who aren’t are getting valuable playing time with the Saints with the hope of being called up eventually.
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