Minnesota Twins relief pitcher John Klein winds up to deliver in his major league debut, against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Iowa Central standout John Klein had a familiar smile on his face this past weekend when he made history.

Klein became the first ex-Triton to reach Major League Baseball’s highest level, entering into a game on Saturday for the Minnesota Twins.

The 6-foot-5 native of Brooklyn Park, Minn. pitched a perfect ninth inning in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, needing just 12 pitches to record three outs.

“I found out after the game with St. Paul,” Klein said in an interview from the clubhouse with the Minnesota Twins. “It was probably around 10:30, 11 at night when (manager) Brian Dinkelman called.

“I was numb, speechless throughout the whole night.”

Several of Klein’s friends and family members were in attendance at Target Field to see him pitch. He is rated as the No. 20 prospect for Minnesota in its farm system.

Klein got Kazuma Okamoto to hit a grounder to third, forced a flyout by Lenyn Sosa and finished off the inning when Daulton Varsho popped out to third. Okamoto leads the Blue Jays in home runs with nine, seven more than all-star Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

Klein spent two seasons with Iowa Central, going 13-6 with 165 strikeouts in just over 134 innings pitched. As a freshman, he was 7-3 with 82 strikeouts, following that up with a 6-3 record and 83 strikeouts as a sophomore.

While a Triton, he learned under current St. Edmond activities director David Flattery, who was a former Gael and Iowa Central standout himself on the mound before becoming a pitching coach at ICCC.

“Watching John live out his dream of pitching in the big leagues for his hometown team was amazing on Saturday,” Flattery said. “I still remember going to watch him pitch his senior year of high school and talking to (Iowa Central) head coach Eric Stein about how impressive he was.

“He is an awesome guy and has a great family. He was such a hard worker, coachable and a great teammate at Iowa Central. I couldn’t more happy for him.”

From there, Klein entered into the Minnesota minor leagues as an undrafted free agent, going 18-18 over five seasons with 305 strikeouts in 75 appearances, making 54 starts on the mound. He has logged over 288 innings in the minors, and 332 including two summer league runs.

Last year, Klein went 7-5 for the Wichita Double A team and had made six starts with seven appearances this season at St. Paul. He also had a Triple A stint last year. He was added to the 40-man roster for the Twins last November, attending spring training before being sent to Triple A.

Two of Klein’s former Triton teammates are working their way up through the minor league system, as Brett Sears is with the Atlanta Braves Triple A team and Max Holy is with the Double A squad of the Houston Astros.

“John has earned every bit of it,” Stein said. “He came to Iowa Central really fairly new to pitching. He kept working and developing during his time here and through the minor leagues, and now has gets to play on the biggest stage.

“We are all incredibly happy for and proud of John.”