Minnesota's draft strategy this year has leaned heavily on finding arms that fell for reasons that have nothing to do with talent. Tommy LaPour is the clearest example of that so far. The TCU right-hander signed with the Twins for $733,100, full slot value for the 107th overall pick, according to Jim Callis.
Jim Callis broke the signing news and laid out exactly what the Twins are getting in LaPour.
A year ago, LaPour looked like a completely different draft asset. As a sophomore he went 8-3 with a 3.09 ERA across 16 starts, punched out 88 hitters in 90.1 innings, and earned All-Big 12 first-team honors. That kind of season, paired with a fastball that touches triple digits, is the stuff that gets scouts whispering about the top 2 rounds.
Then 2026 happened. LaPour developed elbow soreness after his first start of the season, against Vanderbilt, and missed roughly 9 weeks. When he came back late in the year, the results were rough on paper — 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA over 6 appearances, just 17 innings thrown. The stuff, though, reportedly never left him: Callis described a fastball still touching 101 mph with heavy sink, plus a power mid-80s slider as his best secondary.
That's the entire draft calculus in one player. Teams don't get scared off by mid-90s-to-100 heat and a wipeout slider — they get scared off by an elbow that barely got tested this spring. Falling to the 4th round instead of the top 2 rounds is exactly what an injury discount looks like, and it's why the Twins were able to lock him in at slot value instead of having to blow past it to beat someone else to the punch.
For a Minnesota system that's leaned into betting on stuff over track record, LaPour is a low-cost, high-ceiling swing. If the elbow holds, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame with a triple-digit sinker and a real breaking ball in the low minors is the kind of profile that makes fourth-round picks look like steals within a couple years. If it doesn't, the Twins are out $733,100 and a projectable arm they never got to see for a full season. Either way, it's a bet worth watching develop in the Florida Complex League and beyond.