A disastrous West Coast road trip turned what had been a legitimate playoff position into an increasingly precarious one. Minnesota entered the trip tied for the final American League Wild Card spot, only to get swept by the San Diego Padres and then drop two of three to an Athletics team near the bottom of the standings. The result is a Twins team that suddenly finds itself running out of both games and margin for error.
Minnesota enters Friday at 64-70, six games under .500 and 6.5 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The Wild Card picture isn't much prettier. The Twins sit four games out of the final spot with Texas, Toronto and Baltimore all standing between them and Cleveland.
As it was pointed out on Thursday, the Twins' playoff odds have fallen from 39.4% following their sweep of Atlanta to just 10.6% after dropping five of six games. There are 28 games left. And on Friday night, Walker Jenkins is expected to make his Major League debut.
No, the Twins' top prospect isn't going to cure everything that has gone wrong single-handedly. He's 21 years old and has yet to see a Major League pitch. There will almost certainly be an adjustment period, and expecting Jenkins to throw the entire team on his back would be unfair.
But right now, the Twins don't need him to be a cure-all.
They need a shot in the arm.
The Twins need something to change — quickly
Calling the Twins' August difficult would be putting it mildly. Minnesota is 8-15 this month, and the problems haven't been confined to one area. The starting rotation has posted a 5.10 ERA in August, while the bullpen hasn't been any better with a 5.18 ERA.
The offense hasn't exactly been picking up the slack, either. The Twins have scored just 92 runs this month, seventh-fewest in baseball, and have been held to three runs or fewer in 11 of their August 23 games. That's how a team goes from occupying a playoff spot to watching the postseason begin to slip away in the span of a week.
Even the math is becoming uncomfortable. Minnesota would need to go 18-10 over its final 28 games just to finish with a winning record. Yet, there is still an opportunity here. The Twins' next 15 games all come against AL Central opponents. That stretch begins Friday night at Target Field against the White Sox, the team Minnesota is trying to chase down in the division. A strong run over the next two weeks could change the complexion of both the division and Wild Card races considerably. A bad one could effectively end Minnesota's season.
Some have wondered whether the Twins waited too long to make this move, and whether Jenkins' arrival has simply come too late to save Minnesota's season. That's certainly possible. But with 28 games remaining, there's still enough time to find out. If there was ever a time to inject something different into this team, this is it.
Walker Jenkins didn't just get called up — he earned it
Byron Buxton's latest trouble with his hip certainly helped create the opportunity, but reducing Jenkins' promotion to an injury replacement would ignore what he's been doing in St. Paul. Jenkins has been pounding on the Major League door. In 69 games with the Saints, Jenkins is hitting .308/.407/.532 with 12 home runs and 17 stolen bases. Then there's what he's done in August.
Jenkins has gone supernova.
In 18 games this month, he's hitting .411/.488/.795 with eight home runs and seven stolen bases. His recent power surge has answered one of the remaining questions about a player whose combination of hitting ability, plate discipline, speed and defense had already made him one of baseball's elite prospects. Those aren't numbers that merely suggest a prospect is developing nicely. Those are numbers that make it increasingly difficult to justify keeping him in Triple-A.
Even before Buxton aggravated his hip Tuesday, calls for Jenkins to come across the river from St. Paul were growing louder. Now the Twins have both an opportunity for him to play and a team desperately searching for a spark. The timing couldn't be much better. Ideally, Jenkins would be joining a Twins team with a completely healthy Buxton patrolling center field alongside him. That's not where things stand.
Buxton has dealt with the hip problem since May and has already landed on the injured list twice because of it. After appearing to move better Monday against the Athletics, he aggravated the hip again Tuesday and was forced to leave the game. That's important context for Jenkins' arrival, but it shouldn't define it. Jenkins isn't here simply because Buxton is hurt. He's here because his performance demanded an opportunity, and Minnesota suddenly has an even greater need for what he can provide.
Jenkins can't save the Twins, but he could change their energy
Fans need to be realistic about what comes next. Jenkins is 21 years old. He's going to be learning on the job against the best pitchers in the world, and there will be nights when he looks every bit like a rookie. Major League pitchers will find weaknesses, make adjustments, and force Jenkins to make adjustments of his own. There will be strikeouts. There will be mistakes. There may be stretches when the player who just demolished Triple-A pitching suddenly looks human. That's part of the process. But let's not undersell who the Twins are bringing to Minnesota, either.
Jenkins is one of the best prospects in baseball. MLB Pipeline ranks him No. 15 overall, and there's a reason Twins fans have spent the last few years waiting for this moment. The fifth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft has performed everywhere the Twins have sent him. Jenkins is special. That doesn't mean he'll immediately dominate Major League pitching. It means his ceiling is high enough that he has the ability to make an impact while he's figuring it out. The Twins have already gotten a glimpse of what that can look like with Kaelen Culpepper.
Culpepper was called up on August 7 and hasn't looked overwhelmed by the moment. Through his first 16 Major League games, Culpepper is hitting .333 with three home runs, including one as his first MLB hit. It's a small sample, obviously, and there's no guarantee Jenkins will enjoy the same immediate success. But Culpepper's start reminds us that young players don't always need months to start making an impact. Sometimes they arrive ready. And there is something to be said for what young players can bring to a team beyond their numbers.
Jenkins hasn't lived through the Twins' disappointing August. He hasn't been part of a team watching its playoff position evaporate over the course of a miserable road trip. He's arriving after hitting everything Triple-A pitchers have thrown at him. That brings a certain energy. The Twins could use some of it.
If Minnesota is going to salvage its season, Jenkins can't be expected to do it alone. The pitching staff has to be better. The established hitters have to produce. The defense has to tighten up. The Twins need contributions throughout a roster that has collectively gone cold at exactly the wrong time. Jenkins can't fix all of that. What he can do is provide a new spark in the dugout. One big hit can change a game. A couple of wins can change a series. A good series can begin to change the direction of a season.
The Twins don't need to look very far ahead. They open a three-game series Friday night at Target Field against the team sitting 6.5 games ahead of them in the division. The schedule gives Minnesota a chance to make up ground directly against its AL Central competition. If the Twins intend to make September meaningful, the opportunity is sitting right in front of them. So is Walker Jenkins.
For months, Twins fans have wondered when one of baseball's best prospects would finally get his chance in Minnesota. That chance has arrived at a moment when the Twins badly need something — anything — to breathe some life back into a season that has begun slipping away. So, yes, it's finally time.
Walker Jenkins doesn't have to save the Twins' season. He might be exactly the shot in the arm they need to start righting the ship, but whatever happens Friday night, enjoy this one, Twins Territory.
We've been waiting a long time to see Walker Jenkins in a Twins uniform. Tonight, we finally get to watch him play at the Major League level.
Add us as a preferred source on Google