Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospect On Verge of Making History in 2025

Corey Lewis, the Twins' No. 11 ranked prospect, is projected to make his debut in 2025 and he's bringing his knuckleball with him.

Minnesota Twins players wear commemorative hats as seen before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum in 2019. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Corey Lewis enters the season as the No. 11-ranked prospect in the Minnesota Twins farm system, and he's projected to make his major league debut this season.

And when he does, he'll make some baseball history with his knuckleball, according to ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan.

(Lewis's) knuckleball is almost ready for the big leagues. A ninth-round pick in 2022, Lewis -- who finished last season at Triple-A -- has averaged 83.5 mph on 13 knuckleballs this spring.

It is by far the hardest version of the pitch ever seen at the professional level. San Diego's Matt Waldron averaged 77.6 mph on his knuckler last year. R.A. Dickey topped out at 77.3 mph. While Lewis mixes it with a 90 mph fastball as well as a slider, the knuckler will be the pitch that gets him to Minneapolis.

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— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 14, 2025

Lewis, 24, played his college ball at UC- Santa Barbara. He went 3-6 last season with a 2.51 ERA across four minor-league levels, making 17 starts (19 appearances). He struck out 92 batters in 79.0 innings.

The Twins figure to open the season with Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods-Richardson in the rotation, but Lewis could be an option if there's injury or poor performance. David Festa, who will start the year in Triple-A, could also be an option for the Twins.

Minnesota is coming off a year in which they finished fourth in the American League Central and missed the playoffs. They open the season on March 27.

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