Inside The Twins

Emmanuel Rodriguez, St. Paul Saints get off to roaring start to 2025

Rodriguez picked up three hits as the Saints cruised to an 11-0 win in their first game of the season.

Will Ragatz

Feb 21, 2025; Fort Myers, FL, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez (32) takes photos during media day.
Feb 21, 2025; Fort Myers, FL, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez (32) takes photos during media day. / Chris Tilley-Imagn Images
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The St. Paul Saints look like they're going to be a problem for Triple-A opponents to deal with this season. They got off to a dominant start to the 2025 season, smashing the Indianapolis Indians 11-0 on Friday night at CHS Field.

The headliner of the performance was Emmanuel Rodriguez, the Twins' No. 2 prospect and a consensus top-40 prospect in the sport. The supremely talented 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic began his season by picking up three hits — all of them to the opposite field — and a walk in five plate appearances. He had a pair of flared singles to left and a two-run double that he absolutely ripped to the left-center gap, which left his bat at 113.6 miles per hour to open the scoring in the third inning.

The only thing that has slowed down Rodriguez in his minor-league career has been injuries. As long as he stays healthy, he figures to earn a promotion to the majors sometime this year.

The Saints racked up 18 hits as a team, scoring their 11 runs without leaving the yard once. Luke Keaschall, the Twins' No. 3 prospect and their reigning minor league player of the year, had two hits in his Triple-A debut. Eight of the nine players in the starting lineup had multiple hits, with MLB veteran Mike Ford the only one left out of the party. Austin Martin, Armando Alvarez, and Jair Camargo (who doubled twice among his three hits) join Ford as Saints players with previous MLB experience.

The first six hitters in St. Paul's Friday lineup have either reached the big leagues or are a top-100 prospect in baseball. The bottom three — Yunior Severino, Jeferson Morales, and Ryan Fitzgerald — combined for six hits and six RBI. It's quite the Triple-A lineup.

And then there's the pitching side of things. David Festa, who showed huge promise last season with the Twins, threw five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out four on 58 pitches. Former Twins relievers Scott Blewett and Kody Funderburk helped complete the shutout. St. Paul's rotation to open the season also includes Zebby Matthews and standout prospects Andrew Morris, Marco Raya, and Cory Lewis.

You can see why the Saints have a chance to win a ton of games this season — at least until the Twins start poaching some of their best players. There's quite a bit of big-league talent on display at CHS Field in St. Paul.

The Saints are back at it with games against Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday afternoon (if weather permits).

Update: Saturday's Saints game has been postponed due to rain.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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