Walker Jenkins is the Twins' top prospect and, arguably, their premier prospect since Byron Buxton over a decade ago. He's also a league-wide top 20 prospect, ranking No. 10 by Baseball America, No. 12 by ESPN, and No. 14 by MLB-dot-com on midseason lists. He's an immensely talented player, and he's producing like it.
Jenkins is thriving at Triple-A as a 21-year-old, hitting .284/.381/.467 in 59 games for an .848 OPS that's 82 points above the International League average. And that includes hitting .304/.369/.519 with 18 extra-base hits, eight steals, and a sub-16 percent strikeout rate in 34 games since returning from a shoulder injury in June.
(Jenkins' recent two-homer game — one vs. a righty and one vs. a lefty.)
Even with the imminent return of Byron Buxton to the Twins' outfield, a .500-ish team fighting for a playoff spot seemingly should be looking for reasons to call up an elite-level prospect crushing Triple-A. It's the same logic that led to the Twins calling up Kaelen Culpepper — a lesser prospect than Jenkins — last week.