Payton Eeles overcomes his size to become one of Twins’ top infield prospects.

There were times over the past couple of months, St. Paul Saints infielder Payton Eeles admits, when he was frustrated about the timing of his offseason knee surgery.

Eeles couldn’t participate in spring training, spoiling an opportunity where he likely would’ve been in big-league camp and played in major league spring training games.

When injuries thinned the Twins’ infield depth, forcing them to bring in Kody Clemens and Jonah Bride from outside the organization in April, it could’ve been Eeles’ chance to make his MLB debut.

As Eeles keeps thinking about it, though, he realizes it’s no different than any other part of his baseball career. The easy path has never been available to him. Listed at 5-5, 180 pounds, he’s always had to do it a little differently.

He had one scholarship offer to play out of high school, at a Division II school. He went undrafted in 2023 after transferring to Coastal Carolina and producing a stellar super senior season. He spent parts of two years playing in an independent league before the Twins signed him, giving him a $500 signing bonus.

“You want certain things to happen a certain way, but they just don’t and that’s OK,” Eeles said. “You just keep going.”

Eeles, 25, is the Twins prospect that came out of virtually nowhere and exceeded all expectations. Last year, he led the entire farm system, at their four minor league affiliates, in batting average (.308), on-base percentage (.428) and slugging percentage (.497).

Signing in May 2024, he started at Class A Fort Myers where he had a hit in 19 of his first 20 games playing against much younger competition. With a low signing bonus, he knew if he didn’t perform immediately, he might not last long in the organization.

Beyond his stats, he made an impression with his style of play. He commanded the strike zone, totaling nearly as many walks as strikeouts. He ran the bases aggressively. He dove all over the field defensively.

“There is that cliché out there, ‘Play every game like it’s your last,’” Eeles said. “For me, actually feeling that and having that as a real reality, that put some extra pep in my step in how I go about things. I was playing every game down there like it was the World Series just because I didn’t want to get released.”

Last year, Eeles received a quick promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids, where he played 13 games, but it was a temporary assignment in St. Paul that changed the outlook of his career. He was initially called up to Class AAA to provide the Saints with an extra infielder as they weathered a few injuries.

It happens many times throughout the course of a minor league season with a variety of players.

Eeles was told not to bother driving his car up from Cedar Rapids. Almost all players on these temporary fill-in callups return within a week. Eeles stayed the rest of the summer. In 64 games at St. Paul, he hit .299 with a .419 on-base percentage, eight homers, 30 RBI and 43 runs.

“That car,” Eeles said, “was sitting in the Cedar Rapids parking lot for a good two months.”

Eeles’ road to this point, ranked as the Twins’ No. 15 prospect by Baseball America, wasn’t easy. There were many fortuitous connections. The Acworth, Ga., native received his scholarship offer to Cedarville University in Ohio because a pastor in his church was in an online Bible study with one of the school’s coaches.

It was early spring during his senior year of high school and Eeles hadn’t played in front of Cedarville’s coaches, so he sent them a 12-minute video of his football highlights. He was a star defensive back who returned kickoffs and punts. The baseball coaches loved his athleticism.

“I went up there for a visit and after the visit, coach [Mike] Manes, he put the offer on the table, ‘This is what we have for you,’” Eeles said. “It wasn’t that much. You know, it’s D-II baseball. But it was all I had at the time.”

Eeles, who was a civil engineering major, is the grandson of a minor league catcher, so playing professionally was something he wanted to pursue.

When he sought to transfer after four seasons at Cedarville, he benefitted from a chance meeting. The same pastor from his church visited Eeles’ high school with a Chicago White Sox amateur scout, Kevin Burrell, at the same time Eeles arrived for a workout. Burrell watched Eeles and offered to mention him to college coaches he knew.

“I don’t believe it was random circumstance,” Eeles said. “I prayed for this thing to happen.”

Coastal Carolina was the first D-I school to call Eeles. He hit .374 with a .500 on-base percentage in his one season at the school, batting leadoff as their regular second baseman.

Eeles thought that would be enough to entice MLB teams, though the draft was shortened to 20 rounds. Burrell, Eeles said, pushed hard for the White Sox to take him.

“He kept texting me after every round, ‘Man, I’m really trying out here,’” Eeles said. “I appreciate him for that. The White Sox decided not to do it, and the Angels were another team that was contacting me about being a senior sign. They also decided to go a different direction.”

The Twins offered Eeles a minor league contract after he played 39 games in an independent league in 2023 and six games in 2024.

“I was basically balls to the walls as soon as I stepped in because I knew my role,” he said. “I knew I was coming in to basically fill a spot, but to me, I treated that as an opportunity. Let’s go out, show what you can do, and see what happens.”

Eeles returned to St. Paul after a two-month stint on the injured list. He compiled seven hits in his first five games.

He will tease Carson McCusker that he can hit more homers than his 6-8, 250-pound teammate, but maybe there are new advantages to his size.

“Before I was saying, I’m 5-7,” Eeles said. “Then I get here and it’s like now I want to be shorter because my [automatic] strike zone will shrink. I was like, OK, measure me for what I actually am, 5-5.

“If you look at my records, I think in college I was listed at 5-7 or 5-8. But now I figure this is who I am, so I might as well rock with it.”