Kaelen Culpepper returned to the Twins' lineup on Tuesday after sitting out two games with a bruised shoulder from a 95 mph fastball, only to suffer a hamstring strain that requires an injured list stay that could end his season. He's technically eligible to come off the IL for the final two games.
It's a shame, because any additional big-league reps are valuable for a rookie, but Culpepper had already shown more than enough for the Twins to be encouraged about his outlook for 2027 and beyond. He hit .275/.333/.404 for a 107 OPS+ in 31 games and graded out neutral defensively despite a rough debut in Milwaukee.
Culpepper's strengths and weaknesses were largely as advertised. He chased too many pitches outside the strike zone and has to clean some things up defensively to be more consistent, but the 23-year-old shortstop's athleticism, arm strength, and bat speed looked legit and he struck out less than the league-wide average.
"Offensively, the comfort has been pretty good since he hit the ground running," manager Derek Shelton said. "Defensively, starting to see him just be more aware of what’s going on. You come to the big leagues and you're feeling everything out. I think he’s gotten to the point where it’s a little bit more natural for him."
Kaelen Culpepper shows off his arm with a nice play in the hole.
Culpepper is just the eighth Twins player to start at least 30 games at shortstop in their age-23 season, joining some pretty good company: Jorge Polanco (2017), Danny Santana (2014), Cristian Guzmán (2001), Greg Gagne (1985), Lenny Faedo (1983), Roy Smalley (1976), and Zoillo Versalles (1963).
They weren't all success stories, but that seven-player list includes what I would consider the four best shortstops in Twins history. Simply holding your own as a big-league shortstop at 23 is a positive sign for the future, and Culpepper posted the third-best OPS+ in that group. It was a very promising first glance.
And because Culpepper's debut season will end short of the 130 at-bat cutoff for rookie eligibility — he's at 109 at-bats right now — he'll retain prospect status for 2027. That means he'll appear on national top-100 lists (and my Twins top-40 list) again, and the team will get a boost in league-wide farm system rankings.
Center field hierarchy
Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez are both considered capable defensive center fielders, but they each got regular Triple-A action across all three outfield spots to prepare for a future playing alongside Byron Buxton. Now that Buxton is out, and the prospects are called up together, what's the center field hierarchy?