Fast-rising Keaschall ready for Spring Breakout stage

This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach¡¯s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Twins fans have been hearing about Walker Jenkins since the day he was drafted fifth overall in 2023. They¡¯ve been hearing about Emmanuel Rodriguez for even longer. The club¡¯s third Top 100 overall prospect, however, has had a more recent emergence.

Luke Keaschall, the team¡¯s No. 3 prospect and MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 60 overall, just flat-out hit his way into the Top 100 last year. In a season split between High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita, Keaschall posted a .303/.420/.483 line that gets better the more you look at it.

He drew 62 walks against 80 strikeouts. He stole 23 bases in 29 attempts. He was even hit by pitches 18 times. If there¡¯s a way you can help your club on offense, Keaschall did it last year. And while it would be understandable for fans to have missed his ascendance last season, there¡¯s no longer any excuse for not knowing the former second-round pick.

Keaschall is the biggest name on Minnesota¡¯s Spring Breakout roster for Saturday¡¯s game between Twins prospects and Blue Jays prospects, and if his entire history is any indication, he¡¯s going to do something worth seeing on offense.

¡°You¡¯re just trying to become as complete a hitter as you can,¡± he said, ¡°and fill all the holes, so it makes it that much harder to get you out. Ever since I was a little kid, you just try and find a way to help your team win, get on base, whatever the game asks you to do, you try and do. Try and not overcomplicate it, try and simplify it as much as I can. Do what I can to help the team be successful.¡±

Keaschall received consecutive starts at designated hitter on Friday and Saturday, and in the latter game he hit his first Grapefruit League home run. And while it¡¯s hard to see how he fits on the Twins¡¯ big league roster at the start of the season, there¡¯s no doubt he¡¯s made a name for himself in camp.

¡°He¡¯s an exciting player because he¡¯s explosive, he¡¯s a good athlete, and probably most importantly, he swings the bat,¡± Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ¡°There¡¯s not many guys with that type of combination of ability. This is a simple way of putting it, but if you can really hit, and you can really run, and that¡¯s one guy that¡¯s doing both of those things, you¡¯ve got a chance to be a really productive big leaguer.¡±

The Twins¡¯ 2025 Spring Breakout game is set for Saturday at 12:07 p.m. CT at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.