Kaelen Culpepper picks up three hits versus Braves

Culpepper didn’t have any extra-base hits, but the four singles raised his average to .340 in the first 50 at-bats of his big league career. He offers enough upside to be considered in mixed leagues, though he’s not necessarily a must-add player.

There are going to be nights like this for Culpepper as he acclimates to everyday life in the majors as Minnesota’s shortstop of the future. He picked up an RBI on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to somewhat salvage things. The 24-year-old offers enough over-the-fence pop and stolen base upside to matter in all fantasy leagues, but counting on him to hit for average might be a bit of a stretch. He’s one of the more exciting prospects to reach the majors in recent weeks and is at least worthy of a speculative roster spot.

The 24-year-old shortstop wasted little time getting on the board. In his second at-bat of the night, Culpepper, who was facing an 0-2 count in the fourth inning, smashed a fastball from Shane Drohan 414 feet into left-center field for his first career homer. The size/speed youngster made a good first impression in his debut and remains an interesting add in deeper leagues where available.

The 24-year-old top prospect has hit .271/.367/.478 with 14 homers, 46 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 343 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this season. He’ll jump right into an everyday role in the Twins’ lineup and should be worth an immediate look in deeper mixed leagues due to his intriguing blend of power and speed.

Culpepper is the Twins’ second-ranked prospect and the 29th-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He has a .271 average with 14 home runs, 46 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 74 games for Triple-A St. Paul this season, but has gone 11-for-40 (.275) in 10 games since returning from a glute injury in mid-July. Culpepper is one of the highest-ranked prospect hitters we’re likely to see called up this summer and has a power/speed combination that’s worth a gamble in most fantasy leagues.

Culpepper has battled some injuries earlier in the summer, but he’s hitting .375 in four games in August and has gone 11-for-40 (.275) in 10 games since returning from a glute injury. There remains a good chance we see Culpepper in Minnesota by the end of August when his rookie eligibility for 2027 would remain in tact.

Culpepper had missed almost a month after being hit by a pitch on the hand and then suffering a glute injury shortly after. However, he returned over the weekend and played three games for St. Paul. He is still not regualrly playing shortstop for full games, so that will be the next step, but the 23-year-old remains likely to get a call to the big leagues shortly after the August 14 deadline to keep his rookie eligibility for 2027.

Culpepper was officially placed on the minor league injured list on Tuesday with a glute strain. It’s the same hip-related issue that forced him to miss time last month. The 23-year-old has certainly shown enough on the doorstep of the majors to warrant a call-up to the big leagues, but that won’t happen until he’s healthy again. He’s a worthwhile stash in deeper mixed leagues, but fantasy managers in shallow formats can probably find a better use for his roster spot.

Culpepper lobbied to stay in the game but was removed anyway. The last update was that Culpepper was being listed as day-to-day while the team awaited X-rays. As of Tuesday, July 7th, he has still not gotten into a game, so we should expect some clarity on the situation, one way or another, soon, but Culpepper himself has said the hand is not broken.

Culpepper was placed on the injured list about two weeks ago with a hip strain, and, at the time, had appeared close to a promotion. There are no longer any service time issues that the Twins need to worry about, and Luke Keaschall has begun playing the outfield, so Culpepper could be called up after the All-Star break if he gets back to producing at Triple-A. Before suffering the injury, he had gone 14-for-38 (.368) with two homers and three steals in 10 games in June.