Ben Ross has spent enough time in the Twins’ system to know how hard it can be to get noticed. He wasn’t a splashy name when Minnesota took him in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft, and he didn’t race through the minors on reputation. But after a late surge in 2025 and a loud start to 2026, the right-handed hitter has turned himself into a real name to track.
The case for Ross starts with production, and lately there’s been plenty of it. He opened 2026 in Double-A and absolutely torched the competition, hitting .424/.528/.797 (1.325) in 16 games for the Wind Surge.
That run included five home runs, 16 RBI and a walk rate of 16.7%, while he struck out just 13.9% of the time. Minnesota didn’t have much choice after that, and Ross got the call to Triple-A in late April.
What he’s done since arriving in St. Paul has only strengthened the argument that this wasn’t a hot streak built on smoke and mirrors.
In 89 games with the Saints, Ross has hit .258/.367/.475 (.842) with 20 doubles and 13 home runs. He’s also drawn walks at a 14.3% clip.
The strikeouts are still there - 26.3% is the number to watch - but the overall profile keeps moving in the right direction. He’s getting into better counts, hitting the ball with authority and giving pitchers something to think about.
The recent stretch has been especially eye-catching. Over his last 12 games, Ross has gone 14-for-44 with four home runs, three stolen bases and a .954 OPS.
That kind of run matters because it shows the Double-A breakout wasn’t a one-week spike. The momentum has held up against better pitching.
Ross’ path here has been a grind. He went mostly unnoticed coming out of high school in Ohio and kept building his case at Division II Notre Dame College near Cleveland, where he became the first two-time All-American in school history.
Minnesota saw enough to draft him in the fifth round and signed him for $220,000, below his assigned slot value. But the early pro results were uneven.
He flashed tools, yes, but consistency was the issue, and he spent more than a full season at Double-A without fully putting it all together.
That started to change at the end of 2025. Ross finished that year with a .286/.328/.518 (.846) line over his final 15 games, along with three homers, 12 RBI and five stolen bases.
It was a strong enough finish to hint that something had clicked. Then he backed it up with the outburst in Double-A to open 2026.
What makes Ross more interesting than a typical utility type is that the bat has started to match the athleticism. He’s an above-average runner who can move around the diamond, and that versatility matters.
But he’s also showing legitimate offensive traits: a 36.8 Hard-Hit% to all fields, a growing ability to turn pull-side contact into home runs, and improvements in both his line drive rate and HR/FB rate. His line drive percentage is up 3.7%, and his HR/FB rate has increased by 3%.
Fastballs have been the pitch type he’s handled best so far. The next test is whether he can keep producing against softer stuff and breaking balls as the competition keeps getting sharper. That’s the part that will decide whether this becomes a useful big-league role or just another solid minor league run.
For now, though, Ross has earned attention. He’s gone from a player trying to prove he belonged at Double-A to one who has already shown he can impact Triple-A pitching.
The Twins don’t need him to become a star. They may just need him to be a reliable right-handed bat who can play multiple spots, add some pop and chip in a few steals.
That kind of player can matter over 162 games. Ross has put himself in that conversation, and the Twins now have to decide when - or if - he gets a shot to prove it in Minnesota.
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Twins Still Have One Big Polanco Trade Question Left
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Topa has since moved on, signing minor-league deals with the Blue Jays, Royals and Yankees, with New York sending him to Triple-A. For the Twins, the bigger question now is how the rest of the Polanco return settles in, because these kinds of trades are rarely decided by the first impression alone and the final verdict often depends on whether the other pieces eventually help Minnesota in a more meaningful way. [Read more 🡒]