It didn’t take long for the Walker Jenkins hype train to leave the station.
Technically the train is going to be slow rolling its way through the Minnesota Twins farm system for the next few years, but Jenkins isn’t waiting to start giving fans some special moments.
Of course, everything he does right now is made extra sweet thanks to it being a chaser to the near-miss the team experienced after the MLB Draft. The Twins went from miraculously being in a position to draft Jenkins with the No. 5 pick to being in danger of it all getting rendered meaningless. Jenkins and the Twins were the last first-round pairing in the league to agree to a contract and the deal was struck mere hours before the deadline passed.
All of that is water under the bridge, and Jenkins is quite literally hammering home reasons for Twins fans to forget about it and fall in love with him.
Jenkins reported to the Twins Rookie-level affiliate in the Florida Complex League after signing his contract back in July. Since then he’s not only made a triumphant debut but has already given fans the sort of moment that legendary lore is built around.
Twins prospect Walker Jenkins hits grand slam in first career home run
On Monday night Jenkins hit the first home run of his professional career, which ended up being a grand slam.
🚨Walker Jenkins grand slam🚨 pic.twitter.com/FpOqZM1fwC
— Twins Central (@TwinsCentral1) August 8, 2023
Not only that, but Clark is off to a fantastic start, beginning his career with the Twins by going 6-for-13 and is slashing an insane .462/.500/.846 in just three games.
Fellow prep prospect Max Clark — who was also linked to the Twins with the No. 5 pick — also turned in a special moment. He hit a walk-off home run during his debut with Detroit’s club, but Jenkins gets the leg up in grand fashion.
Moments like this give Twins fans hope that Jenkins can live up to the billing he’s received so far. There was talk of him potentially being the No. 1 overall pick, but he’s already been compared to Hall of Fame slugger Larry Walker in terms of what his ceiling could be with Minnesota.
That’s pretty darn good, but also a lot to live up to.
We won’t be seeing Jenkins hit any Major League grand slams for a while, though. He’s only 18 years old and just beginning his journey in the Twins farm system. It’s likely he’ll be on track to be in the call-up conversation closer to 2027, but he’s certainly giving fans plenty of appetizers to hold them over with in the meantime.