Minnesota Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp dominated on Sunday.
Minnesota Twins rookie Connor Prielipp has had an interesting start to his big-league career. Forced into a starting rotation role much sooner than expected given all the injuries around him, the 25-year-old has done his part logging quality innings.
However, Prielipp did more than just eat innings during Sunday's win over the Colorado Rockies. He was dominant and turned in the best start of his career.
Across six innings, he struck out 10 Rockies without allowing a single walk. He allowed just two runs, and although he did not pick up the victory, he still led his team to a win.
He also made franchise history in the process, becoming the Twins' youngest left-handed pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts in a game since Francisco Liriano two decades ago. He also became the Twins' youngest left-handed pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts and zero walks in a game since Johan Santana in 2004.
After the game, Twins manager Derek Shelton spoke on the excitement surrounding Prielipp's outing. "The exciting thing, if I'm a Twins fan, is this guy just continues to get better. I think that's a really good sign. Because left-handers who rush it up there in the mid-90s and spin the ball, it's a really valuable thing," Shelton said, via Aaron Gleeman.
Shelton is not wrong. Prielipp has continued to redefine his game as he gets acclimated to new environments. Before getting the call for his MLB debut in April, Prielipp was one of Minnesota's top pitching prospects and a top-100 prospect in all of baseball.
The only limiting factor for Prielipp throughout his career has been health, and if he continues to limit hard contact the way he did on Sunday, the sky is the limit for how good he can become.
Shelton is also right about high-velocity left-handers thriving at the big-league level. Just last season in the American League, the two best pitchers were Garrett Crochet of the Boston Red Sox and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, who both finished top-2 in AL Cy Young Award voting.
Both feature devastating breaking pitches alongside a high-velocity fastball, a combination that has been impossible for hitters to solve.
For a Twins team sitting five games under .500 and trying to find reasons for optimism heading into the second half, Prielipp making franchise history on a Sunday afternoon is about as encouraging a sign as this organization could ask for right now.
