The wait is over: Walker Jenkins is ready to conquer the Twin Cities
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If the idea is to strike while the iron is hot, the Twins got the assignment right.
Walker Jenkins is on his way to Minnesota. ... OK, he was already in Minnesota because the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate is in St. Paul ... he’s on his way to Minneapolis to join the big league club and expected to be in the lineup on Friday when the Twins host the White Sox in a key AL Central series.
Taken No. 5 overall in the 2023 Draft and currently MLB Pipeline's No. 15 overall prospect, Jenkins offers five above-average tools when he’s on the field. When is the operative word here: It’s been clear Jenkins has had the talent to be a star at the highest level, but staying off the injured list has been a challenge for the outfielder. Because he’s spent time on the shelf in each of his three full seasons, it often feels like his development and march to the big leagues has been slowed, but he’ll be making his Major League debut at age 21 this weekend.
One of the most amazing things about Jenkins is that despite all the missed time -- he’s yet to play over 100 games in a season -- he’s always been productive when active. This year has been no different: Jenkins missed a chunk of the season when he suffered a shoulder joint sprain after crashing into an outfield fence on a play, but still managed to hit .308/.407/.532 in 69 games with the Saints, hitting 12 homers and stealing 17 bases.
He’s padded those stats considerably lately. He was on MLB Pipeline’s latest Prospect Team of the Week after going 10-for-20 with a pair of two-homer games. Since coming back from that injury in June, he slashed .354/.426/.600 with 11 homers in just 46 games. His August line is absurd: .411/.488/.795 with eight homers and seven steals in 18 games. That resulted in a 142 wRC+ during his time at Triple-A. Iron. Hot.
There was no question that his combination of advanced approach and raw power was ready for a new challenge. An argument could be made that the Twins should have created an opportunity for that sooner, but the minute Byron Buxton was sidelined again, they knew not to wait any longer. And the good news is, he’ll still be eligible for Rookie of the Year honors in 2027, and thus in contention to earn the Twins an extra PPI Draft pick in 2028.
When he gets going like he has been lately, Jenkins might have the best combination of pure hit tool and power in the Minor Leagues. It’s a smooth and repeatable left-handed swing that leads to a ton of hard content. His 91 mph average exit velocity with St. Paul would put him in the top 50 among all Major League hitters and he’s maxed out at over 112 mph. There’s a lot more data supporting the plus hit and plus power grades: His 44.2 percent hard-hit rate puts him in the 81st percentile among Triple-A hitters.
Jenkins' ability to see pitches, and not swing-and-miss at them, is something he’s had since entering pro ball. He’s just shy of 1,000 career Minor League at-bats and he’s carrying a combined .303/.404/.491 slash line with him to the big leagues. Batting average is far from the most informative statistic these days, but the fact he’s never hit below .291 at any level is impressive. For a guy with his power potential to have only struck out 15.9 percent of the time (while walking 13.4 percent) is why he’s considered a plus hitter overall.
This year, Jenkins has a miniscule 18 percent miss rate, just 8 percent against fastballs. So expect him to see a lot of spin and soft stuff when he first faces big league pitching, though he’s far from lost against breaking and offspeed stuff (.275/.313/.450 against non-fastballs in 2026). And teams shouldn’t think about having a big advantage by throwing lefties at him: He hit .313/.382/.463 against southpaws this season.
Jenkins is far from a one-dimensional player. His above-average speed plays well on the basepaths and in the outfield, where he’s capable of playing above-average defense in all three spots. He won’t be Buxton in center field, but he’ll be fine there. And if and when he moves to a corner, his plus arm is a huge asset.
He’s the only prospect who has at least a 60 grade on his hit, power and arm tools and now will get the chance to see how the tools play in the big leagues while helping the Twins cling to postseason hopes. Meanwhile, he's another addition to the very impressive list of fellow members of the Class of ‘23 who have already reached the highest rung. Somewhat remarkably, he’ll become the eighth high schooler from the class to get to the Major Leagues.