Twins Minor League Report (8/7): Walker Jenkins' Big Day; Big Week Ahead in St. Paul

Thanks for another great report Seth. Like many others, I am VERY excited about Walker Jenkins. Great to see him delivering already. I'm also looking forward to the debut of Charlee Soto. Thanks also for the analysis of Jose Salas. As you noted, we need to be patient with a young player like that. Still hopeful of big things for him too. 

Great report. Poor Wichita - many of their good players moved to St. Paul and they no longer get mentioned in the article.

Jenkins is super hyped, even more than Lee was last year.  I know he is high school kid, so I wonder how aggressive the FO will be with him.  The FO has shown willingness to move guys quickly.  I wonder if they move him out of the developmental league if he keeps raking there and move to low A by season end.  My guess he starts low A next year with a quick jump to high A if he shows he can hit low A.  I am not expecting him to make a super climb, and not overblowing his three games, but hype on him around the league is high, I just hope everyone is right. I am fully expecting a few on here to call for him to get called up for Gallo soon haha

Jarrett Whorff was promoted.  That means the Twins are one step closer to having a Klingon on the roster.  Instead of Harry Potter and Star Wars Promotions - Star Trek will prevail.   Make it so.

Walker Jenkins continues with a hot bat.  Winokur continues to show he can hit at an advanced level for a high school kid.  Jenkins should get promoted to A ball, if the Twins want to be aggressive can send straight to high A ball like Texas did with Langford.  That would be extremely aggressive especially with a high school player.  I am waiting to see if a few of the pitchers will get some action.  I am most curious to see are the college kids; Hall, Stoffal, Dougherty, Dunn, Langenberg, Pasqualotto, Lee, Hamilton and Bragg.  I skipped a few but to me these are the most promising of the college picks.  

Jenkins is a pretty good bet to make it to the Mussels before the season ends.

Keaschall is the same age as Rosario and Rodriguez in Cedar Rapids. He should get bumped up to that level but the Kernels infield is pretty full.

The best news for me in your report, Seth, is that Lewis will begin his rehab.  My biggest question, where will he be playing in the field?  Still think he is the Twins third baseman of the future for as long as Correa is at shortstop.

What a fantastic day for young Jenkins.  I keep reading about him and thinking Mickey Mantle.  Well, Mantle joined the Yankees when he was 19.  I know times have changed, so I don't expect to see him at Target Field until he is 20.

Got a good smile when reading about the tribute to Harvey Kuenn III.  Got me wondering.  Was the fantastic player I remember playing at Detroit against my Braves his dad?  Or was it his granddad?  Expect it was his dad, but don't recall him being a junior or II.

Great to see Jenkins off to a fast start. I think it's likely that he plays in the FCL this season and starts in low A next season as the Twins development staff works with him to get a good base in place for him. After that I suspect he'll get promoted as aggressively as his performance will allow. (I do think there's a structural advantage for the Twins with their player development to have the complex league and Low-A right in where the Twins have their FL base; it really lets them keep eyes on young players and have a sizeable instructional staff to work with the young players without having to deal with travel.)

Everything seems to scream winner when Walker is playing. If anyone player can fast track to MLB in the twins org, its gonna be Walker. I bet he is playing in AAA by next August. The guy is a STUD. 

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Seems like Wichita gets to hang on to players way longer than the other levels. Lee, Severino and Keirsey were there longer than they needed to be. Wallner and Williams had to play 2/3rds of the season there last year despite destroying the league and some how Julien never got promoted.

There isn't that much difference between AA and AAA. The big jumps are from rookie ball to A, A+ to Double A and then the big leagues. Triple A is mainly there to give veteran retreads a place to play.

1 hour ago, Fatbat said:

Everything seems to scream winner when Walker is playing. If anyone player can fast track to MLB in the twins org, its gonna be Walker. I bet he is playing in AAA by next August. The guy is a STUD. 

If he does that he is a top 10 prospect possibly top 5 :).  I am happy with a top 20 to 25 prospect and in AA by next year.  

I don't think they like to move recent draft picks out of Fort Myers. They have more resources there for extra training and many of them will be there for fall instructional leagues. 

1 hour ago, IA Bean Counter said:

If he does that he is a top 10 prospect possibly top 5 :).  I am happy with a top 20 to 25 prospect and in AA by next year.  

If Holliday and Chourio have graduated by then, I think a 19 year old in AAA would almost have to be the #1 prospect in the game.  Keith Law already rated him 25th in his post-draft list.  I expect he will be rated around there by a few other outlets by year end.

Lewis is really the only other comparable player drafted under the current FO, and he played in single A in his draft year but was slowed up a bit by tougher competition by the end of his first full year.  Jenkins is supposed to be an even more advanced bat for a HS pick, and there will be a little less pressure on the glove as an outfielder.

I do think that this front office would be willing to put him on the Holliday path if his performance dictates it.  Realistically I think he gets some single A experience this year, hopefully moves to high A before the All-star break next year and then could have a shot at AA before the end of the year, but still wouldn't be disappointing if he ended in A+.  I do hope he does well enough to at least start in AA in 2025.  That would be a fine path that could still see him debut before his 21st birthday.

Anyway, as excited as I am about a dozen at bats, there's a long way to go.

Is it just me, or does Jenkins swing seem ‘handsy’...a lot of weight forward?

Admittedly, I’ve only seen a very few…so. But it seems like there might be (even) more power to unlock there.

Walker has an absolutely beautiful swing.  Effortless. Ball explodes off his bat. With his makeup and talent, I could easily see him making some big jumps over the next year. If he finished out next year like some people are hoping at AA, that would be incredible,  and also mean that he is destroying the competition. I personally think that finishing at high A would be impressive, and probably most likely of all the scenarios

He’s ready.

I'm impressed that Jenkins hit the homer off a slider/curve ball...and not one of those floaters that just stay in the hitting zone for like five seconds. That pitch had some downward bite and he just tracked it and crushed it.

18 hours ago, jkcarew said:

Is it just me, or does Jenkins swing seem ‘handsy’...a lot of weight forward?

Admittedly, I’ve only seen a very few…so. But it seems like there might be (even) more power to unlock there.

I'm not sure if that's my exact observation, but I do agree with the conclusion that there's a low more power that could be unlocked which is insane. That being said, if he can generate that much power with such a short / quick to the ball swing do you want to change it much? I think that swing is conducive to putting lots of balls in play and a higher average. I think what I would like to see is him develop the ability to use different swings depending on the situation. 

@jishfish I’m the overly optimistic guy that sees a way that AAA could happen next year with Walker, he has 2 months to fine tune some development in Florida this year and lets say he starts out in Low A next April/May, he may be so far advanced that it would be a waste to keep him there so he goes right to Iowa by June. Lets just suppose he rakes so well there for 60 days that the organization says to him. We are promoting you to AAA just to show you that pro ball isn’t this easy. Prove us wrong.  Doubtful path but anything is possible. 19.5 yrs old playing for the Saints. 

On 8/8/2023 at 12:15 PM, IA Bean Counter said:

If he does that he is a top 10 prospect possibly top 5 :).  I am happy with a top 20 to 25 prospect and in AA by next year.  

Welp, Jenkins just showed up as the #16 prospect in MLB. Lee #18. If Jenkins is for real, he will probably be on the varsity in 2025.