The Minnesota Twins are in a tight playoff race down the final stretch of the season and calling up Walker Jenkins could get them over the hump. The Twins’ top prospect looks ready for his promotion as he is hitting .284/.381/.467 with six homers, 19 RBI and 13 stolen bases at Triple-A St. Paul this season. But while the Twins’ lineup could use a lift, it may have been Kaelen Culpepper’s call-up that prevents it from happening.
The Athletic’s Dan Hayes raised that possibility as he answered a fan’s comment on a notebook article released on Thursday morning, saying he doesn’t believe Jenkins will join the team “anytime soon” and that Culpepper’s promotion could be part of the reason he spends the rest of the year with the Saints.
“I think they’d want him to play every day,” Hayes said of a possible Jenkins call-up. “I also think they’re not really going to want to help two rookies go through it at the same time. So once Culpepper got here, that changed it too.”
Walker Jenkins may have lost a race to the Twins
Twins fans may look at those comments and the lineup, which was scuffling before they scored 18 runs in a series victory over the Baltimore Orioles this week, and say “Call him up anyway,” but the Twins’ status as playoff contenders may actually be hindering that case.
Minnesota entered Thursday’s MLB Field of Dreams game against the Philadelphia Phillies a half-game behind the Texas Rangers for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. They’re also among six teams that are within four games of the Rangers for that berth, meaning games will become more important as they come down the stretch.
Calling up Culpepper was one way to emphasize that urgency but it came as Tristan Gray and Ryan Kreidler were struggling at shortstop. In addition, the Twins are easing Culpepper into the major leagues as he’s coming off a pair of stints on the injured list from a glute strain and had him rest in Sunday’s series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers and Wednesday’s series finale against the Orioles.
Jenkins has spent his own time on the injured list, missing over a month with a shoulder injury, but he has returned with a vengeance, hitting .304/.369/.519 with four homers, 10 RBI and eight stolen bases in 34 games since returning to the Saints on June 23. That stretch has hit another gear in his last 12 games with a .347/.418/.592 batter’s line to go with two homers, four RBI and four stolen bases.
But the majors are a different animal and Culpepper has found that out, going 2-for-13 with a home run, a walk and six strikeouts in 13 plate appearances. While he could turn it on as he gets more comfortable, it’s also an adjustment period that Jenkins may have to make when he arrives in the majors.
Walker Jenkins’s MLB debut may have to wait until next season
Having to break in a pair of rookies isn’t the only obstacle that Jenkins faces. He is currently not on the team’s 40-man roster and while the Twins could add him, that would also disqualify him from playing Minor League Baseball if MLB’s expected lockout stretches into the beginning of next season.
The present is also tough to find a spot for Jenkins. Trevor Larnach is entrenched in left field and Byron Buxton will be in center when he returns from a hip injury as soon as Thursday night. Luke Keaschall is also hitting .313/.433/.475 with four homers, 11 RBI and two stolen bases since July 1 (32 games) and the Twins likely would prefer to keep Austin Martin and Alan Roden as bench players with Major League experience.
If the Twins were out of contention, they may be more willing to push the veterans to the side and let Jenkins take his lumps alongside Culpepper. But with a playoff spot in reach, it may take a serious injury for Jenkins to make his debut by the end of the 2026 season.
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