By the numbers: Twins detail their digit backstories

This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach’s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MINNEAPOLIS – When Walker Jenkins met the media on the day of his callup from the Minor Leagues, he was asked the story behind his choice to wear No. 11. He explained that it had been his wife’s number in high school sports, and that his preferred numbers of 6 (retired for Tony Oliva) and 7 (Joe Mauer) were unavailable.

That led me to think about how every player has some kind of story about the number on his back. And it turns out that even the ones who say they don’t, still kind of do. Here are some of the stories behind the numbers on the 2026 Twins.

Bailey Ober, No. 17:

“My dad played a bunch of sports growing up. He played DIII basketball. His favorite number was 17 because of John Havlicek of the Celtics. He grew up in the Northeast, so he was a big New England sports fan. That was his guy, so that’s the reason why he picked 17. When I started playing competitive sports at like age 8, that’s what I wanted since that was his number. I’ve always tried to get 17 wherever I was.”

Pablo López, No. 49:

“It was given to me by the Miami Marlins. I had 78 in Spring Training. I had 31 in my hopes and dreams one day -- Max Scherzer, Greg Maddux. But I was given 49, and I thought about changing it, but my family had already gotten 49 gear. I made peace with it, because [49 equals] seven times seven, and [my birthday is] March 7. Jake Arrieta [wore it]. So I made peace with it. …. It got to the point where if I go somewhere, I would try to buy it.”

Kaelen Culpepper, No. 12:

“I think they called Matt Tramp [Triple-A St. Paul clubhouse manager] and asked what they thought would be the best number for me. Because obviously they didn’t want me to know, and he wanted to give me something with 2 in it, since I was 22 in college.

"He gave me this number. … Something with No. 2 in it. They didn’t want to give me 11 because of Daunte Culpepper.” (Note: Culpepper is not related to the former Vikings quarterback, though he’s asked about it often)

Jeff Hoffman, No. 24:

“It was the closest thing I could find to 23. I’ve just kind of been wearing [23] my whole life. Started with [Michael] Jordan. I couldn’t wear it in college because it was retired, but pretty much every time I’ve had the opportunity to wear it, I have.

“But [Ken] Griffey [Jr.] and Kobe [Bryant], pretty good too.”

Mick Abel, No. 20:

“There is no story. I was 40 with the Phillies. I think I said during Spring Training, anything from 20 to 30, or 40 to 46 or something like that.

“My dad wore 13 when he played, and so I wore that by proxy. I loved that number, and then in high school I had 25. I do not want that."

Josh Bell, No. 56:

“When I first signed with the Twins, they sent me like 30 numbers and I just gave the list to my wife and she picked it. I think it was the closest to 55, which was my first number. And she was like, that’s good enough.”

Royce Lewis, No. 23:

“The story is, we signed [Carlos] Correa. I was No. 4, and Correa wanted No. 4. So I didn’t even wear it for more than two days in camp, and he was nice enough, he got me a watch for something he easily could’ve just taken. …

“There were no single digits. I asked for single digits. I was No. 6 in high school, but obviously Tony Oliva. And then I was asking them, what are the numbers?

“[Clubhouse manager Rod McCormick] said we’re not giving away 48 out of respect for Torii [Hunter]. And I said, well, that’s fair. Because I was going to do that for Torii, because of Torii. … Obviously 7 they were waiting to be retired. So I was like, all right, literally are there any other numbers in between? There was 23, there was 28. And I was like, all right, LeBron [James], Michael, why not? I just wanted to have one I could stick with.”