Twins' No. 3 prospect Tait hits new heights while homering for 4th time in 4 games
This browser does not support the video element.
Teenage sluggers like Eduardo Tait are rare enough. Add in the nugget he's also a catcher? Now you're talking about something pretty special.
Already on a homer binge entering Thursday night, MLB.com's No. 41 overall prospect took things a step further, going yard for the fourth time in four games and equaling a career high with six RBIs to power High-A Cedar Rapids past Beloit, 13-10, at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Tait's long-ball barrage stretches back even further than this week. The Twins' No. 3 prospect has blasted seven roundtrippers in 11 games, equaling his output through his first 48 contests.
Tait got his night going with a two-RBI double to cap a seven-run second inning for Cedar Rapids. The 19-year-old drove in his third run of the night with a hard liner up in the middle in the fifth and put an exclamation point on his third three-hit game of the season with a towering three-run jack in the eighth.
With six RBIs, MLB's third-ranked catching prospect equaled the high-water mark as a pro he established in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League in 2024. The clout also gave him 14 home runs, matching his total from last season, when he appeared in 112 games across two levels and two different organizations.
Tait's power is no surprise -- although seven dingers in 55 at-bats is certainly a fine achievement -- but doing so at such a young age is extremely impressive. Since moving stateside in 2024 at age 17, Tait has left the yard 39 times while posting a solid .770 OPS.
This time last year, Tait was toiling in the Phillies' system. Signed as an international free agent 2023, the Panama native was a key component of the deal that sent All-Star reliever Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia right before the Trade Deadline.
There's still plenty of development ahead for the youngster, but his trajectory is difficult to ignore. Every level presents new challenges, but they've also produced similar results: Tait hitting the ball and hitting it hard.
At such a young age, dreams of Tait slugging in the Twin Cities remain just that ... for now. But the line between fantasy and reality blurs less with each passing homer.