Twins prospects stock watch: Culpepper's first year, Gasper stuck in St. Paul, Jenkins returns
This year's MLB Draft is less than a month away — July 13-14 as part of the All-Star week festivities in Atlanta — and the Minnesota Twins hold the No. 16 pick, with mock draft season in full swing.
That also means it's coming up on one year since the Twins used their 2024 first-round pick, No. 21, on Kansas State infielder Kaelen Culpepper. And they have to be thrilled with what they've seen from him so far.
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Culpepper is having an excellent first half at High-A Cedar Rapids, batting .297/.388/.474 with eight homers and 15 steals in 52 games as a 22-year-old playing in a pitcher-friendly environment where the league-wide slugging percentage is just .365.
Culpepper has out-produced the Midwest League average by 157 points of OPS while facing pitchers older than him three-quarters of the time. And in contrast to his reputation as a free-swinging hitter in college, he's drawn 25 walks compared to 37 strikeouts in 240 plate appearances.
Culpepper doing what Culpepper does. 💣#CRKernels | #CRWIS pic.twitter.com/XhksnJMInX
— Cedar Rapids Kernels (@CRKernels) June 4, 2025
Some pre-draft scouting reports suggested Culpepper would need to slide from shortstop to third base, but Cedar Rapids has played him exclusively at shortstop and the early reviews of his work there are very positive, with praise for his strong arm, athleticism, body control and instincts.
Like many young hitters, Culpepper still chases too many pitches outside the strike zone. For now, his fantastic bat-to-ball skills make it a non-issue, but that could be exploited by more experienced pitchers as he moves up the minor-league ladder.
He'll also need to elevate more pitches to fully tap into his power potential. Extra-base hits come from fly balls and line drives, but Culpepper's ground-ball rate is among the highest in the Twins' farm system, making it premature to project substantial long-term power without a change.
Big picture, Culpepper is off to a highly encouraging start as the first anniversary of his draft approaches. He's answered questions defensively, he's producing offensively in a tough environment and he's already started to appear on top-100 lists, with a Double-A promotion hopefully imminent.
As the Twins' lineup fails to generate offense consistently, it's worth noting Mickey Gasper is in St. Paul absolutely destroying Triple-A pitching for the second straight season.
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There's natural skepticism surrounding Gasper, because he's a 29-year-old journeyman generously listed at 5 feet 10 and has struggled in several brief stints in the majors. He's also very limited defensively, which makes it hard to find a roster fit unless the Twins think his bat can make a real impact.
Gasper flopped in two brief stints with the Twins earlier this season, hitting .176 with a bunch of weak contact, but the sample was minuscule: 34 at-bats spread across 17 games, with a start in consecutive games just once. Good or bad, there are no meaningful conclusions to draw from that.
It's difficult to 'prove yourself' in 34 sporadic at-bats, but that's the reality veteran minor leaguers like Gasper will often face once the 'Quad-A player' label is attached. They need to produce well right away in whatever small opportunity they get in the majors or risk never getting a longer look.
M-I-C, C YOU LATER, K-E-Y, Y CAUSE HE CRUSHED IT, H-O-M-E-R. This is not a replay, Gasper has done it again. Solo homer to right, his second of the night and ninth of the season, ties the game at two. Third time in his career he's homered twice in a game. pic.twitter.com/4bhyv2mMDW
— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) May 25, 2025
Maybe the skepticism is justified in Gasper's case, but there's only one way to find out for certain. And it's not as if a Twins lineup that's been among the league's worst since the second half of last season can't spare a few at-bats for a hitter who's been exceptional — not just good — in the minors.
Gasper has hit .329 with 10 homers and a 1.066 OPS in 37 games at Triple-A St. Paul this year after hitting .367 with eight homers and a 1.062 OPS in 48 games at Triple-A Worcester in the Boston Red Sox's farm system last year, leading the International League in OPS both seasons.
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And he's not an all-or-nothing slugger with a red flag-raising strikeout rate — the opposite, in fact. While hitting .350 with a .612 slugging percentage in 85 total Triple-A games the past two seasons, Gasper also has more walks (53) than strikeouts (48) and a league-best .453 on-base percentage.
Among all International League hitters with at least 350 plate appearances over the past two seasons, no one has an OPS within 100 points of Gasper:
It's certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison because of Gasper's age, but each of the other four hitters listed is in the big leagues. Of note, Kyle Manzardo is second on the Cleveland Guardians with 11 homers and recent Red Sox call-up Roman Anthony is MLB's consensus No. 1 prospect.
Is it possible for someone to be that great against Triple-A pitching and not be able to hit MLB pitching even a little bit? Sure, it does happen. But most hitters with that type of Triple-A production over multiple years can at least be competent in the majors if given an extended chance to prove it.
Gasper may never get that extended chance, with the Twins or elsewhere. But six months ago, they were intrigued enough to trade for him, and three months ago, they saw enough to give him a spot on the Opening Day roster. Gasper warrants skepticism, but he warrants more than 34 at-bats, too.
Twins top prospect Walker Jenkins rejoined the Double-A Wichita lineup after rehabbing an ankle injury in the low minors for two weeks.
Jenkins played the first two games of the Double-A season before being placed on the injured list with the same ankle problem that also sidelined him during spring training. Back in the Wichita lineup Wednesday for the first time since April 6, he went 1-for-3 with a single and two walks.
Jenkins was the No. 5 pick in the 2023 draft out of high school and emerged as a consensus top-10 prospect coming into the season, ranking higher than any Twins prospect since Byron Buxton a decade earlier. And even missing nearly two months of action hasn't caused Jenkins' stock to slip much.
WALKER. CLAY. JENKINS.💣💣💣
The top prospect in the #MNTwins system gives us the lead with a mammoth, go-ahead homer💪
Top 8 | Mussels 4, Cardinals 2 pic.twitter.com/kgzC27Eq5d
— Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (@MightyMussels) June 7, 2025
Still only 20 years old, Jenkins slotted No. 11 on The Athletic's midseason list, with Baseball America ranking him No. 12 and MLB.com keeping him in the top 10 at No. 6. Ankle and hamstring injuries have delayed his rise, but Jenkins is still the third-youngest hitter in the Double-A Texas League.
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He's batted .298/.400/.461 with 10 homers, 45 total extra-base hits and more walks (74) than strikeouts (69) in 120 career games while stealing 27 bases in 34 attempts and playing a solid center field. And if he can stay healthy, he could move very quickly.
(Photo of Culpepper throwing out a first pitch at a Twins game last year: Matt Krohn / Associated Press)
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