Luke Keaschall, Zebby Matthews named Twins' minor league players of the year

Keaschall and Matthews have a chance to be future studs for the Twins.

Jul 13, 2024; Arlington, TX, USA; National League Future outfielder Dylan Crews (3) steals second base ahead of the tag by American League Future infielder Luke Keaschall (16) during the fifth inning during the Major league All-Star Futures game at Globe Life Field. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Infielder Luke Keaschall has been named the Twins' minor league player of the year and starter Zebby Matthews has been named the Twins' minor league pitcher of the year. They'll receive those awards at the Diamond Awards ceremony in January, alongside the winners of various team awards at the MLB level.

Keaschall is the Twins' No. 3 prospect (behind Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez) and the No. 63 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB.com's latest rankings. ESPN and Baseball America have him as a top-50 prospect in the country. The 22-year-old infielder has thrived in the system since being a second-round pick out of Arizona State last year, and he should be up with Triple-A St. Paul in 2025.

This season, in 102 games split between High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita, Keaschall hit .303 with 15 home runs, 23 steals, 80 runs scored, and a .903 OPS. He was the Twins' representative in the MLB Futures game in July. Unfortunately, Keaschall's season was cut short when he needed Tommy John surgery in August, but he should be good to go for spring training next year.

Matthews, 24, had a ridiculous season in the minor leagues that resulted in him making nine starts at the big-league level down the stretch. He began the year with High-A Cedar Rapids and earned three promotions in a little over three months to wind up with the Twins. Matthews' first look at the big leagues went poorly, but he's clearly deserving of this award given what he did in the minors. He had a 2.60 ERA with 114 strikeouts and 7 walks in 97 innings across three MiLB levels.

Along with Simeon Woods-Richardson, David Festa, and prospects like Andrew Morris and Marco Raya, Matthews is part of the Twins' young pitching core that should make quite an impact over the years to come.