Twins Prospects: A Culpepper False Alarm, Jenkins Returns With a Bang

Twins No. 2 prospect Kaelen Culpepper, who is on the verge of reaching the big leagues for the first time, exited Saturday night's St. Paul Saints game in the fifth inning. With the reason for his departure not immediately clear, there was some speculation on social media — and from the Toledo Mud Hens' TV broadcast — that the shortstop was being called up to the Twins.

That is not the case. Culpepper left the game with "glute tightness," according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. One inning earlier, he ran in to field a slow chopper and made a nice play to get the runner at first. He appeared to be in some slight discomfort afterwards, as Emily Waldon noted.

Culpepper will be out of St. Paul's lineup on Sunday and is considered day to day. The Saints have a day off on Monday before returning to CHS Field.

Hopefully it'll be a brief injury absence for Culpepper, who is having a fantastic season in Triple-A. Through 61 games, he's hit .273 with 53 runs, 14 home runs, 15 stolen bases, and an .875 OPS. He is more than deserving of an MLB call-up, which makes it frustrating for fans that the Twins continue to wait while playing guys like Tristan Gray and Orlando Arcia at shortstop.

It certainly feels like the Twins are keeping Culpepper in the minor leagues for service time manipulation reasons. If they wait, they can avoid the risk of Super Two status that could result in the 2024 first-round pick reaching arbitration a year earlier than he otherwise would. Of course, if winning were the most important thing, that wouldn't be a serious consideration.

Jenkins returns with a bang

The only prospect ranked higher than Culpepper in the Twins' system is outfielder Walker Jenkins, the No. 5 overall pick out of high school in 2023. Jenkins has been out of the Saints' lineup since May 3, when he suffered an AC joint sprain in his shoulder after running into an outfield wall.

He's now healthy, and on Saturday, Jenkins began a rehab assignment with Low-A Fort Myers. Hitting second and serving as the designated hitter, he went 4 for 5 with two singles, a double, and a moonshot of a home run into the Florida night.

The ninth-inning homer was listed with an exit velocity of 106 miles per hour and a launch angle of 35 degrees. There's no distance listed by Statcast, so we'll just estimate that it traveled around 450 feet.

Walker Jenkins moonshots are all the way back 💥

MLB's No. 11 prospect (@Twins) unleashes on a 105.9 mph homer to cap a four-hit night in his first rehab game for the Single-A @MightyMussels. pic.twitter.com/03Dds0MPOL
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 14, 2026

Jenkins was set to play center field on Sunday for Fort Myers, but the game was cancelled due to unplayable field conditions. If the Twins are satisfied with his one rehab game, he could be back in the Saints' lineup on Tuesday.

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