Kaelen

Culpepper

Lee is making his sixth consecutive start at the hot corner as Minnesota appears to be preparing for the inevitable arrival of 2024 first-round pick Kaelen Culpepper as their shortstop of the future. The 23-year-old top prospect is hitting .247/.349/.473 with 11 homers and 11 steals in 218 plate appearances over 46 games for Triple-A St. Paul this season. Lee’s transition to third base seems to signal that the Twins are likely done with Royce Lewis as a long-term option at the position. It’s a stunning development given how potent Lewis looked as a burgeoning offensive force earlier in his career before injuries derailed his promising career.

This is noteworthy because Culpepper is primarily a shortstop, but the Twins have an opening at third base with Royce Lewis having been optioned to the minors today. The Twins seem to be priming Culpepper to take that spot. The 23-year-old is slashing .253/.346/.469 in 39 games at Triple-A with nine home runs, 30 RBI, and nine steals. He’s a potential 20/20 player who could hit .240 at the MLB level this season, which means he’s a player fantasy managers should be looking to stash if you have the space.

At some point, the Twins are going to have to give intriguing infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper, who is tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A St. Paul recently, a look at the highest level. The obvious move would be to jettison Royce Lewis from third base, especially since he’s hitting .165 overall this season. However, it’s worth noting that Keaschall is hitting just .224/.306/.292 with one homer and 10 steals through 44 games. The 23-year-old former top prospect hit at every rung of the minor-league ladder and looked impressive during last year’s injury-shortened rookie campaign.

The Twins’ top offensive prospect has now homered three times in his last four games, which gives him eight home runs on the year to go along with seven steals. In six games in May, he’s hitting .333/.481/.857 with three home runs, nine RBI, two steals, and a 1/5 K/BB ratio. Culpper has mainly played shortstop this season, but has also started five games at third base and two games at second base, so there are plenty of ways the Twins could get him up into their big league infield.

Culpepper’s home run was off Payton Tolle, and the 23-year-old is now up to three home runs on the season while hitting .294 with eight RBI and a .927 OPS. Brooks Lee has been off to a slow start in the big leagues, so there is a chance that Culpepper, who is MLB Pipeline’s 52nd-ranked prospect, could push Lee for a job by May if he keeps this up.

Culpepper is the Twins’ second-ranked prospect and the 52nd-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. He reached Double-A last season and slashed .289/.375/.469 with 20 home runs and 25 steals in 113 games between High-A and Double-A. There’s a good chance that he could be in Triple-A by the beginning of the summer if he starts this season in the same way he finished last season.

Culpepper’s hits today left the bat at 109 and 104 mph. The 2024 first-round pick is slated to open 2026 back in Double-A, but he might finish it as the Twins’ shortstop unless Brooks Lee takes a clear step forward.

Culpepper was 5-for-15 with two doubles and a triple in five games before getting hurt. The 22-year-old shortstop was the 21st overall pick in last year’s draft.

Culpepper, the 21st overall selection this year, hit .297/.366/.541 in nine games for low-A Fort Myers. He’s thus far played six games at short and one at third base. Expectations are that he’ll progress pretty quickly, adding to the potential logjam the Twins face with Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Brooks Lee, Willi Castro, Edouard Julien and Luke Keaschall between shortstop, third and second.

Culpepper receives a full-slot $3.9 million deal from Minnesota as the 21st overall pick from the 2024 MLB Draft. The 22-year-old shortstop doesn’t project as a future fantasy standout, but he does a little bit of everything and has some long-term stolen base upside.