The Minnesota Twins are calling up top prospect Walker Jenkins ahead of Friday’s home series opener against the Chicago White Sox.
The center fielder, ranked as the No. 15 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, is getting called up at least in part due to lingering health concerns about longtime Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton, who re-aggravated a hip injury on Tuesday and didn’t play in Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Athletics.
It’s also a chance for Jenkins, the fifth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, to make his major league debut after a strong season of work at Triple-A St. Paul. The 21-year-old hit .308 with a .407 on-base percentage, 12 homers, 17 doubles and 28 RBIs in 69 games with St. Paul this season. He has also stolen 17 bases.
Jenkins has taken that to another level in August, with a .411 batting average, .488 OBP, eight homers and 13 RBIs in 18 games.
He’s the second top-tier Twins prospect to be called up this month, joining No. 3 Minnesota prospect Kaelen Culpepper, who debuted Aug. 7 and is hitting .333 with three homers in his first 16 games at the major league level.