St. Paul – Paulshawn Pasqualotto has one of the more unique first names in baseball. One parent wanted to name him Paul, and the other wanted to name him Shawn. So they compromised by combining the two.
However, the Minnesota Twins didn’t have to compromise with Paulshawn Pasqualotto on where they wanted him to play this year, as their 2023 12th-round pick rose from High-A to Triple-A.
Overall, Pasqualotto’s 2026 numbers weren’t so bad. He posted a 3.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .250 opponent average, 12.21 K/9, a 32.9% strikeout rate, and a 9.0 walk rate. But as Pasqualotto moved up each level, his numbers improved, posting a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings at High-A and keeping his overall ERA down from 5.06 in 10 ? innings with the St. Paul Saints.
However, the ERA, WHIP, and opponents’ averages rising at each level didn’t keep Pasqualotto down much as the 2026 season ended. He prides himself on ‘pounding the zone’ with strikes, and his 36.2% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate to end the season with the Saints show how well he can attack the zone.
“There’s a lot of things in this game you can’t control,” Pasqualotto said. “You can make a good pitch, and they can get a hit off of you, or a bad pitch and get away with it, so I would say filling up the zone is a big thing for me. Trying to limit the walks, so I’m always trying to do better at that.”
Pasqualotto has confidence in his ability to attack the strike zone, trusts his pitches, and knows what he wants to throw on every pitch. That trust in his stuff showed a level of maturity the Saints pitching coaches and catching staff like to see when a pitcher reaches Triple-A for the first time.
“The kid knows what he wants to throw,” Saints catcher David Bañuelos said. “I think I’m the type of catcher that doesn’t get upset when a guy shakes. Because if you’re not convicted in a certain pitch, then I want you to go to your best pitch in that moment. The kid is not afraid to shake and throw the best pitch that he thinks, and I love that about him.”
“He competes his ass off,” said Saints pitching coach Ryan Meisinger. “He’s not afraid, obviously, small sample size, but you’ve seen his stuff. The stuff is good; it’s just about refining. When he’s in the zone, it’s good, and then he can get to his two changeups.”
Not every pitcher in the Twins system has two changeups, but that’s been a strength for Pasqualotto this season. He has used a traditional changeup and added a kick change this year, adding to an arsenal that already features a sinker, slider, and curveball.
A self-described ‘tinker of pitches,’ Pasqualotto worked on another fun project that helped him on his journey through the Twins farm system. He leaned on the kick change 20.6% of the time this season.
“It was mine; it was kind of like a splitter, but I think it’s helped me a lot this year as a 0-2 pitch, or when I’m ahead in the pitch count,” Pasqualotto said. “It just has more movement, and I didn’t have that last year, so it’s helped me out a lot, but I’ve been working a lot on my slider. That’s something I’m trying to get more consistent, get better, and throwing my changeup more to righties.”
Pitch tinkering was constant on the mound and in the bullpen for Pasqualotto this season. Still, when he wasn’t throwing, he was a sponge around St. Paul’s veteran relievers. As much as Pasqualotto stood out for his confidence in what he threw, he also stood out for how quickly he went to veteran relievers like Matt Bowman, Julian Merryweather, and Eric Orze for advice and anything they could share about their big-league experience.
“Being up here, there’s a lot of guys with big league time. So, I’m just trying to learn as much as I can because I don’t know how long I’m here for,” he said. “I’m just trying to pick their brains, and like I said, learn as much as I can from them. I feel like I’m just thankful to be here and be in that position to use them as a resource.”
“Paulshawn has already done a good job at that,” said Bañuelos. “I think when you get somewhere new, you want to be a little timid. Right away, he was wanting to ask questions like, ‘Hey, how about this? How about that?’ Picking guys’ brains. I think that’s the biggest thing when guys come up to this level: ‘Hey, don’t be afraid to ask questions.’ Ask the guys who have been doing it for a while.”
Pasqualotto will enter his fourth season in the Twins farm system in 2027. Like many pitchers in recent draft classes, he didn’t throw it all after he reported to Fort Myers in 2023 following the draft. So the Twins still have four years of control on his minor league service time.
That said, Pasqualotto is well positioned to return to St. Paul next season, especially if the MLB lockout continues. He is a little older than most of his peers from the 2023 draft class – he’ll turn 26 next June. However, as a full-time reliever, age matters less.
For Pasqualotto, it’ll come down to proving he can be consistent with whatever opportunity he gets in St. Paul next season. And if his swing-and-miss consistency continues to complement improved stats on the mound, then there won’t be any compromise on his ceiling in 2027.