The Twins are going to call up prospect Walker Jenkins for Friday’s game, reports Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. Minnesota will need to open a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters in order to make the move official. The club is off today, so the transactions probably won’t be made official until tomorrow.
Jenkins is a consensus top 20 prospect in all of baseball. Baseball America currently lists him tenth overall, MLB Pipeline 15th, ESPN 12th and The Athletic 19th. FanGraphs is even more bullish, putting him fourth overall, behind only Jesús Made of the Brewers, Franklin Arias of the Red Sox and Kade Anderson of the Mariners.
It’s not hard to see where the hype comes from, as Jenkins is a potential five-tool star. The Twins selected him fifth overall in 2023 out of South Brunswick High School in Southport, North Carolina. Since then, he has put up a combined .303/.404/.490 batting line across multiple minor league levels. His 13.4% walk rate and 15.9% strikeout rate are both very strong figures. His 144 wRC+ indicates he has been 44% above league average on the whole. He has good speed and a good arm and is considered a strong defender at all three outfield spots.
The major concern with Jenkins is a checkered injury history. Even before being drafted, he had undergone hip impingement surgery and suffered a hamate injury. Since going pro, various issues have limited the quantity of his production. He still hasn’t topped 84 games played in any season since being drafted. In 2024, a quad strain and a hamstring injury limited him to 82 contests. Last year, an ankle sprain capped him at 84. This year, he has gotten into 73 games so far. He injured himself crashing into a wall in early May, suffering a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. That injury sidelined him for a little more than a month.
As a left-handed hitter, Jenkins gets rave reviews for his plate discipline and swing decisions. The power is a little behind his hit tool but the expectation has been that he would tap into more strength as he ages. The injuries have slowed that progress a bit. The scouting report from BA notes that most of his power is to the pull side and he still hasn’t hit a home run off a lefty pitcher.
For Twins fans, this probably sounds familiar, as they have been enduring the Byron Buxton experience for years. Buxton is an MVP-level talent but frequent health issues have often limited the volume of his production. In his 12 big league seasons, he has never played more than 140 games and has only twice gone beyond 102.
Of course, the fact that Jenkins currently evokes Buxton doesn’t mean their career paths are going to line up. Time will tell if the injury profile persists or if it’s something Jenkins can put behind him. Regardless of how that plays out, it’s an exciting time for the club and the fanbase, as no one in the game doubts the talent.
More to come.
