Minnesota may have fallen out of playoff contention over the last week, but many of the club’s affiliated teams will be vying for postseason championships. Here are some of the prospects to watch in the days ahead.

Image courtesy of Steve Buhr, Twins Daily

On Sunday, the High- and Low-A regular seasons came to a close. Luckily, both of Minnesota’s affiliates qualified for the postseason, and they will begin play on Tuesday. In the Midwest League, the Cedar Rapids Kernels face the South Bend Cubs in a semifinal round. For the Florida State League, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels square off against the Dunedin Blue Jays. Multiple names below will be getting their first taste of postseason action. 

Cedar Rapids Prospects To Watch
Brooks Lee, SS (TD No. 2)
Lee has already impressed during his professional career after being taken as a top-10 pick in June. The Twins had him skip Low-A and head directly to High-A. In 25 games, he posted a .848 OPS with four doubles and four home runs. An argument can be made that he is the organization’s best prospect, and now he has a chance to prove it on a big stage. 

David Festa, RHP (TD No. 13)
Festa was a 13th-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, but his stock has risen significantly over the last year. Between Low- and High-A, he has a 2.43 ERA with a 1.09 WHIP and a 108-to-34 strikeout to walk ratio. Festa is a year younger than the average age of the competition in the Midwest League, and the team will ask him to get some big outs if they make a September run. 

Kernels Expected Starters
Game 1: David Festa
Game 2: Travis Adams
Game 3: Jaylen Nowlin

Fort Myers Prospects To Watch
Noah Miller, SS (TD No. 7)
Minnesota took Miller with the 36th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school in Wisconsin. During the 2022 season, he was over two years younger than the average age of the competition in the FSL. Miller lacked power production during his first full professional season, but the playoffs offer a new opportunity. He has the potential to be one of the team’s top prospects by 2024. 

Marco Raya, RHP (TD No. 8)
Raya was Minnesota’s first draft pick from high school in 2020 as the team took him in the fourth round. As a teenager in the FSL, over 82% of his plate appearances have come against older batters. In 19 appearances (65 innings), he has a 3.05 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP and 10.5 K/9. He missed time at the beginning of August, so he has averaged less than four innings per start in September. 

Tanner Schobel, SS (TD No. 18)
Schobel was Minnesota’s second-round pick in 2022 from Virginia Tech, where he had a .980 OPS in three seasons. He hit 18 doubles and 19 home runs during his final collegiate season. As a professional, he has been limited to a .651 OPS with five extra-base hits in 32 games. Hopefully, his college experience shines through in the postseason. 

Kala’i Rosario, OF (TD No. 20)
Like Raya, the Twins took Rosario out of high school in the 2020 MLB Draft. As a regular in the Mussels line-up, he has hit .239/.320/.408 (.727) with 21 doubles, three triples, and 12 home runs. His numbers are even more impressive, considering that nearly 90% of his plate appearances have come against older pitchers. 

Mighty Mussels Expected Starters 
Game 1: Pierson Ohl
Game 2: Marco Raya
Game 3: Jordan Carr

Obviously, any player can shine under the postseason spotlight, but big players step up in critical games. Will any of the names above lead their teams to championships? Who are you looking forward to watching? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

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That's nice to see that some of our teams will Play in a post season , says something about our prospects  and yes the one to watch is brook Lee ...

Go cedar Rapids and Fort Myers  ...

Is it legal to temp. demote to lower leves some players from higher level clubs for the play-offs?

The fans in those stands deserve just as much as the AAA and Major league teams.

Festa just capped his minor league pitcher of the year award with 6.2 innings of 2 hit, no BB, 10 SO performance in the playoffs. Wow! (who says our minor league pitchers only go 5 innings max)