The Minnesota Twins will promote one of their top prospects before they take on the Milwaukee Brewers. JD Cameron reports that the Twins will promote shortstop Kaelen Culpepper for his MLB debut.
Culpepper, 23, was the Twins’ top draft choice in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Kansas State University. In just a little more than two years from his draft day, he will debut in Minnesota.
The 23-year-old has spent the entire season with the St. Paul Saints, the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate. There, he has a .271/.367/.478 slash with 14 home runs and 17 stolen bases. FanGraphs estimates his offense to be about 16% better than the average International League hitter with a 116 wRC+.
Culpepper entered the 2026 season as a consensus Top 100 prospect between MLB Pipeline (52), Baseball America (74), and Baseball Prospectus (71). At the time of his promotion, only first-rounders Walker Jenkins (’23) and Vahn Lackey (’26) rank higher.
Culpepper represented the Twins in the 2025 and 2026 Futures Game in Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Twins Promote Kaelen Culpepper for MLB Debut
The Twins had already been anticipating Kaelen Culpepper’s debut for quite a while. They’ve reshuffled their infield alignment this season, moving Brooks Lee off shortstop. Culpepper will take over there.
The Twins are in a bit of limbo this season. In a weak American League Central and Wild Card race, they’re still alive despite a 57-59 record. They are currently three games behind the Chicago White Sox for the division lead and half a game behind the final Wild Card spot.
Despite their mediocre record, the Twins were buyers at the trade deadline. They acquired A.J. Minter, Dean Kremer, and Jeff Hoffman to supplement their pitching staff. They’re hoping Culpepper can do the same with their infield.
Culpepper might not be the only top prospect to debut with the Twins this season. 2023 first-rounder Walker Jenkins is having a strong year in St. Paul, hitting .302 with an .896 OPS in 59 games, and could be promoted later in the month to protect his rookie eligibility for 2027.
The organization will try to balance a youth movement while trying to stay competitive in a year where very few teams are separating from the pack. In this environment, the Twins could pull that off.
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