ANAHEIM -- Walker Jenkins spent his first three weeks in the Major Leagues learning just how unforgiving baseball at the highest level can be.
Entering Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium, the Twins’ top prospect per MLB Pipeline, was sitting on a 4-for-45 start at the plate to his big league career and fighting through an 0-for-18 slump that would test the mental toughness of any 21-year-old put into the big league spotlight.
Then came the top of the ninth inning, two outs, a runner on, and a 100.9 mph heater from Angels reliever Ben Joyce.
The rookie unloaded on the triple-digit fastball, driving a two-run, game-tying home run to center field and cap off a 3-for-4 night. Though the Angels eventually walked it off in the bottom of the 10th, Thursday’s late-inning drama centered entirely on Minnesota’s young phenom.
"Obviously it's frustrating [when] you lose the game," Jenkins said. "It makes it kind of feel absent after doing something like that. But [I’m] so thankful that some of the swings were coming together and I was able to help the team."
COMPLETE TWINS PROSPECT COVERAGE
The ninth-inning swing carried both history and a bit of help. Per Statcast, the home run was wind-aided, but it was the raw speed Jenkins turned around that was the most impressive element. Joyce's 100.9 mph fastball was the second-fastest pitch a Twins player has homered off of in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), trailing only now-Angels manager Kurt Suzuki’s 2016 blast off a 102.6 mph pitch from Aroldis Chapman.
As the Twins evaluate their young roster in the final nine games of the season, moments like Thursday offer a glimpse of the power and composure that made Jenkins their top prospect.
Selected fifth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft and currently ranked as the No. 14 overall prospect in baseball, Jenkins was called up on Aug. 28 for his Major League debut. While the initial box scores showed a slow start, his composure throughout his first month has never wavered, something that has earned consistent praise from veterans and coaches, who frequently pointed to a plate discipline and mental approach that remained well beyond his age.
"We know this kid's going to be a good player," Twins manager Derek Shelton said. "When you come to the big leagues, it's a little bit of a challenge, but really good at-bats out of him tonight."
For Jenkins, conquering that big league learning curve has been as much about the mental adjustment as the physical swing.
"For me, it's always more of a mental hurdle when you get caught up and go to a new level," Jenkins said. "I think I have the work ethic and a lot of the God-given ability to be successful, but there's new pressures and guys are better. It's something that I think for whatever reason, every time I've gotten called up, I tried to do a little too much too soon. [I] have to find that adjustment and continue to work and get better."
After striking out in his first at-bat, Jenkins singled in the fifth off Angels starter Walbert Ureña and added another single off Luke Murphy in the eighth before scoring Minnesota's first run on a Brooks Lee sacrifice fly. By the time he stepped into the box against Joyce in the ninth, Jenkins had already put together his first multihit game in the Majors.
Though Minnesota briefly took a 4-3 lead in the 10th on an RBI single from Lee before the Angels rallied in the bottom half to seal the win, the sting of the loss didn't erase Jenkins' progress. Nearly a month into his Major League career, finding that mental adjustment has come down to two things: embracing the surreal nature of the big leagues and recognizing that he belongs.
"Part of [the adjustment for me is] just getting accustomed to being around some of the teammates," Jenkins said. "It is still kind of eye-opening. You play against a guy like Mike Trout today and you're like, 'Holy cow,' and you walk in the locker room and see [Byron] Buxton every day. I'm like, 'Dude, these guys I grew up watching on TV.' It's something that I'm just starting to take all in, enjoy it, and understand that I belong here. It's continuing to put in the work and just stacking good days. Even when I don't perform well, I'm doing everything I can to make myself successful."