The Future is Now for the Minnesota Twins

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn (photo of Culpepper) and Jesse Johnson (photo of Jenkins) - IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We’re officially a month away from the 2026 MLB regular season coming to an end.

For the Twins, the year as a whole hasn’t been exactly what they hoped for. There have been some highs, but ultimately, Minnesota is currently seven games below .500 and tied for seventh in the American League Wild Card race. Still, regardless of how they got here, the general consensus around the Twins this season was that this would be the result. And for what it’s worth, it’s still not over.

Minnesota kicks off a big stretch of divisional games tonight, and they could turn their season around quickly with a strong stretch. More importantly, though, they’ll get to do so with a big piece of their long-term core now on the roster. Walker Jenkins was just called up yesterday and made his major league debut last night with a right-hander on the mound. While the Twins might not be contenders this season, they’ve reached an exciting point in the organization’s timeline.

The future is now.

With Jenkins and fellow top prospect, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, now in the majors and September callups right around the corner, this will be the first time we’re seeing some of the top young talents in the organization in the majors together. Jenkins and Culpepper entered the season as the top two prospects in Minnesota’s system, and now both are getting an opportunity to show what they can do at the highest level. Culpepper is already off to a blistering start, hitting .333 with a .907 OPS, and considering how Jenkins was swinging the bat in St. Paul recently, there’s reason to believe he could get off to a similar start himself.

Obviously, nobody should expect either player to immediately become a superstar just because they’ve reached the majors. There will be adjustments, slumps and plenty of growing pains along the way, especially for Jenkins as he gets his first taste of big league pitching. But the important part is that both players are here, and the Twins are finally getting a look at what their future could look like.

Additionally, we’ve already been able to see a lot of Connor Prielipp this year. Prielipp entered the season as the Twins’ top pitching prospect, and we’ve seen flashes of why throughout his time in the majors. His 5.55 ERA doesn’t exactly jump off the page, but his FIP and expected ERA would suggest that number should be closer to the high-3.00s or low-4.00s range. He’s also striking out more than a batter per inning, and health permitting, he should have an opportunity to become a major piece of the Twins’ rotation going forward. The organization has desperately needed young pitching to emerge, and Prielipp has shown enough to suggest he could eventually become one of the answers.

Despite some recent struggles, Andrew Morris has been a really good story this year, too. Morris has turned into an anchor of the Twins’ bullpen, and because he’s only 24 years old, there’s still a lot of room left for him to grow. Every young pitcher is going to go through stretches where things don’t go their way, and I’m confident Morris will snap out of this rut and get back to being one of the best late-inning options Minnesota has. Culpepper, Prielipp and Morris have all made pretty notable impacts for the Twins this year, and hopefully, Jenkins is next in line. With September right around the corner, the Twins should also have an opportunity to bring up some other young, talented players and give them a chance to show what they can do.

Beginning September 1, the Twins will have two additional roster spots, which means there will be opportunities for more names to make their way to Target Field. Someone like Emmanuel Rodriguez could be heading there in the very near future. Rodriguez is already on the 40-man roster and will be out of minor league options in 2027, and while he hasn’t been swinging the bat quite like Jenkins recently, he has been swinging a hot bat. If the Twins aren’t going to be playing meaningful postseason baseball in October, now would be a great opportunity to let Rodriguez get his feet wet and see how he handles the major leagues.

Gabriel Gonzalez is another name worth watching. Gonzalez has already been up with the Twins this year, although he appeared in just one game before being sent back down. He could get another opportunity between now and the end of the season, especially if Minnesota wants to continue getting its younger players some major league experience. There’s also Kendry Rojas, who is currently dealing with an oblique injury. Rojas hasn’t made a huge impact in the majors so far, but he has flashed enough to show why the Twins are excited about his future. Once he’s healthy, there’s a chance he could return to the majors and get another opportunity to establish himself.

It might not be where the Twins wanted to be at this point in the year, but this is an extremely important stretch of baseball for the organization. For the first time, Minnesota has a chance to see a large portion of its long-term core on a major league roster at the same time. Jenkins and Culpepper are finally here, Prielipp and Morris have already gotten their feet wet, and there are several other young players who could join them before the season is over.

The individual performances over one month won’t tell us everything. Young players are going to have good games and bad games, and it would be unfair to make sweeping conclusions based on a few weeks of major league action. But it will still give the Twins a much better idea of where these players are in their development and what they could eventually become. After years of waiting on these prospects to climb through the organization, they’re finally getting their opportunity. One way or another, the future is now.

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[Peter]

This is the best prospects twins have ever had!!! And yes get their feet wet and see what they got!!! At full health twins have the best team in ML by far!!! Future looked great for years to come with twins and another World Series championship is going to happen!!!

[LeatherAntenna]

31 minutes ago, Peter said:

This is the best prospects twins have ever had!!! And yes get their feet wet and see what they got!!! At full health twins have the best team in ML by far!!! Future looked great for years to come with twins and another World Series championship is going to happen!!!

When is the future now for the Minnesota Twins fans?  Is it watching these two calls us play for a sub 500 team?
 

[thelanges5]

Not a great start to the divisional games but Jenkins had a good debut. KC has looked like he belongs. E-Rod needs to be up. Would’ve liked to see them up sooner - injuries and the mediocre AL had us focusing on the playoffs and not the future. 

[Twins 72]

The more we can get a look at these guys the better. There are some really good building blocks. Actually having a chance at the playoffs is almost gone. Bell and Larnach have had good years but will probably not be here next year. It does no good to keep rolling them out on a consistent basis. Let's see what ERod has instead of Larnach. Let's see what Saboto has instead of Bell. Could a DH platoon of Saboto and Wallner work next year? Maybe not but at least investigating it this year would be interesting. Keaschall, Culpepper, Jenkins, Buxton, Lee, Lewis, Clemens should be regulars. Need to figure out Catcher and DH. There is no reason they can't resign Jeffers if they/he wants to. I think his value is overblown. The Twins can compete if they want. Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, Kremer, Matthews, Rojas gives them a good rotation. One or two of those can move to the bullpen which will strengthen that group. I like having Hoffman back with Morris and Gomez. Add Matthews or Rojas to that and you would have some power in the back end. Bring Minter back? This is the making of a good team. And these are all in-house players. There is always the possibility of adding a few from outside. Front Office needs to make good decisions and maximize all options. 

[DJL44]

I think Abel is going to be a lot more critical to the teams success than Gonzalez. Rojas and Prielipp alone won’t make them a contender.

[Whitey333]

Good take from article and readers.  Put Buxton on season ending IL and call up a young player to see what he can do.  Jeffers was brutal last night.  Plus his trotting to first base on the last play of these game was awful.  If you can't run out ground balls dont play.  Oh well im pretty sure he wont be on the team next year anyway. 4 runs in first was awesome then no offense rest of game. Kind of summarizes the season

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, Peter said:

This is the best prospects twins have ever had!!! And yes get their feet wet and see what they got!!! At full health twins have the best team in ML by far!!! Future looked great for years to come with twins and another World Series championship is going to happen!!!

Do you have a prescription for the controlled substances you use?

[PuckettPond]

The future was selling @ this year's trade deadline. Last year's sell off was 2 fold, great returns on trades and this year's great draft picks. We may have drafted our 1st HOF catching prospect.

[HarmonK03]

11 minutes ago, PuckettPond said:

We may have drafted our 1st HOF catching prospect.

Joe Mauer

[JBK]

Play the rookies every day the rest of the season.  Put Buck on IL.  Bye-bye Larnach.  Jenkins-ERod-Gonzo outfield.

[thelanges5]

Team is 8-16 in August:

Only Bell, Lee, and Lewis are above league average OPS

Only Minter, Nance, and Rogers have an ERA under 4
 

[DJL44]

6 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Team is 8-16 in August:

Only Bell, Lee, and Lewis are above league average OPS

Only Minter, Nance, and Rogers have an ERA under 5
 

Culpepper has an OPS over 900. Roden has an 858 OPS in August. Keaschall is at 919. I don’t think you used the right filter.

[thelanges5]

3 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Culpepper has an OPS over 900. Roden has an 858 OPS in August. Keaschall is at 919. I don’t think you used the right filter.

Missed Keaschall, sorry Keasch  

I left out Roden and Culpepper (SSS)

Either way the hitting has sucked overall. 

[MeleMouth]

No, the future isn't now. It's in 2028 and maybe 2027. They're going to regret trading Hill and perhaps some of the other prospects they traded this year, because they could have had talent or trade value for better future teams. Similarly, the Twins should have completed the tear-down this year and brought in additional talent instead of selling "competitive baseball in September."

I just hope they don't bring back the whole gang and try to sell some kind of competitive window next year. "Buxton! Ryan! Lopez! Larnach! Lewis!"

[Fatbat]

Its gonna be the start of an awesome Twins future!  Congrats to all the ‘26 rookies on their debut season. Too many losses but that happens. Several more future stars are on the way in the next 2 seasons so it would be just fine to get one more draft lottery pick next summer while WJ is on his ROY tour!  Our farm is stacked with future talent to add to this young core!!