Minnesota Twins 1st Round Pick Barely Misses Prospect of the Year Award

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Walker Jenkins
Credit: Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Minnesota Twins have seen plenty of big league promotions this season. A couple of them have even included top prospects. Their farm system still ranks among the best in the sport. Plenty of that is because of depth but Walker Jenkins is also pushing to become baseball’s best prospect.

Twins’ Walker Jenkins is runner up for Prospect of the Year

Walker Jenkins began the year playing for Low-A Fort Myers. He injured his hamstring during the first game of the year and missed time. That didn’t stop him from being promoted all the way to Double-A Wichita by the end of the season. The Athletic’s Keith Law called 22-year-old Kristian Campbell, of the Red Sox system, the 2024 Prospect of the Year. He had Walker Jenkins right behind him though.

“The best prospect on this list, Jenkins was the Twins’ 2023 first-round pick, fifth overall, but his season started late as he got hurt in his first game of 2024 and missed six weeks with a hamstring injury. After that, he hit .294/.407/.462 across the complex league, Low A and High A, only struggling when he was bumped up to Double A on Sept. 8. I’ll forgive him that last bit, as he’s still just 19 years old. The Larry Walker comparisons he evoked in high school might turn out to be accurate after all.”

Keith Law on Walker Jenkins as honorable mention for Prospect of the Year (The Athletic)

As Law notes, Jenkins went just 4-for-25 at Double-A but the sample size was a measly six games. It’s hard to call that a struggle, and his approach still produced an impressive 4/3 K/BB. On the season as a whole, Jenkins walked nine more times than he struck out, and did so while showing power and speed.

Related: Man… Walker Jenkins’ Beautiful Lefty Swing Looks VERY Familiar

If Jenkins winds up being Larry Walker, that’d be a pretty good outcome for the Twins. He is more than likely ticketed for a corner spot, like Walker, but a Hall of Fame comparison is hardly a bad thing.

Can Walker Jenkins reach Minnesota Twins in 2025?

After Walker Jenkins went down with an injury in the first game of the season, his 2024 looked grim. Then he missed multiple months before returning to the lineup. None of that seemed to matter as he was back with a vengeance. Jenkins ended the year at Double-A and will start there next season.

The Twins haven’t typically been as aggressive with promotions as they seemed to be this year. Pairing the current core with true difference making prospects makes a good deal of sense. Jenkins should be expected to remain at Wichita for at least the first half of 2025. He could push for time with Triple-A St. Paul by the end of the year, and a late season promotion then wouldn’t be crazy.

Right now Jenkins looks on track to be a major league regular by 2026. At that point he would be just 21 years old. Minnesota has to be ecstatic with how their selection at fifth overall in 2023 has played out. The three college picks ahead of him (Paul Skenes, Wyatt Langford, and Dylan Crews) have all made their major league debuts. Jenkins is racing Detroit Tigers prospect Max Clark to be the fourth of that top group to get there.

Related: Minnesota Twins Could Soon Have Baseball’s Best Prospect

It appears that the Twins have something special on their hands in Jenkins. A Prospect of the Year nod shouldn’t be the only individual accolade that Jenkins picks up along the way. He is a true MVP-caliber talent.

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