It took just 10 games for Kaelen Culpepper to look like a star at the big-league level. The Twins promoted Culpepper, 23, to the majors on Aug. 7. He made an immediate impact, smashing a solo home run for his first MLB hit in his second career plate appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. He went hitless over his following seven at-bats, but has since put together a seven-game hit streak.
After going 3-for-4 against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, Culpepper's MLB slash line improved to a strong .314/.375/.429. He has nine hits over his last 19 at-bats. Even during the rough Phillies series, Culpepper shined by going 4-for-11 with a double and a walk. Notably, two of his hits in the Philadelphia series came against former Twins closer Jhoan Duran, one of the best closers in baseball.
Twins SS Kaelen Culpepper is having a hot start to his MLB career
Culpepper's emergence couldn't have come at a better time. The Twins are in the thick of the postseason race, holding the third American League Wild Card spot and trailing the Chicago White Sox by 3 1/2 games for first place in the American League Central with a 63-65 record. The Twins have lacked a true starting shortstop all season until Culpepper showed up, giving the team a high-upside player at arguably the most important position.
The Twins' lead in the Wild Card standings is very small. The Texas Rangers are tied with the Twins for the third Wild Card spot, but Minnesota holds the tiebreaker between the two clubs.
American League Wild Card standings
Team | Record | Games Back |
|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 72-55 (.597) | +9.5 |
Boston Red Sox | 68-59 (.535) | +5.5 |
Minnesota Twins | 63-65 (.492) | |
Texas Rangers | 63-65 (.492) | |
Toronto Blue Jays | 63-66 (.488) | 0.5 |
Cleveland Guardians | 62-66 (.484) | 1 |
Detroit Tigers | 61-66 (.480) | 1.5 |
Baltimore Orioles | 62-67 (.477) | 2 |
Seattle Mariners | 60-68 (.469) | 3 |
If Culpepper continues to be an offensive force for Minnesota, the club will have a much better chance of reaching the playoffs.
Culpepper has recorded an abnormally high .417 batting average on balls in play over his 40 MLB plate appearances, suggesting he's been a bit lucky. However, he has a strong .271 expected batting average, a 90.5 mph average exit velocity, a 44% hard-hit rate and a 44% launch-angle sweet spot rate. Those numbers show that Culpepper has been barreling up the ball hard and can continue to be a key contributor to the Twins' offense.
Minnesota is slated to begin a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park at 8:40 p.m. CDT on Friday. The Padres are a tough opponent, having won seven of their last 10 games.
The Twins' schedule gets much easier after the Padres series. Minnesota will play 31 regular-season games after this weekend. Of those 31 games, only nine will be against teams that currently have winning records.
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