Twins Prospect Weekly: Walker Jenkins Heats Up in St. Paul, Khadim Diaw Makes His Case at Double-A
By Liam Carter ·
The Patient Predator: Walker Jenkins Is Locked In
The Twins' top prospect went 8-for-23 with two homers and a double across his games this week, and frankly, the raw line undersells how comfortable he looked. Jenkins (AAA, OF, Rank: 1) has been hitting .278 over the last 30 days with a .481 slugging mark, adding three more home runs and seven doubles in that stretch. That's 8 home runs on the season to go with 17 doubles and a .388 on-base percentage across 60 combined games. Those numbers track with a 60 hit tool and 60 raw power, and right now both grades look like fair estimates rather than optimistic projections.
The development story here is familiar with an encouraging update: Jenkins returned from a shoulder injury earlier this summer and has been gradually finding his rhythm, and the last month suggests he's found it. He's still walking at a healthy clip, still showing the plate discipline that distinguishes him from the average slugger, and the two-homer week shows that his power isn't a guest appearance. He projects as an everyday center fielder with All-Star upside, and at 21, he's already showing sustained production at Triple-A that doesn't leave much left to prove before a big-league call-up becomes a formality. The combination of speed, defense, and a swing that generates real loft without sacrificing contact gives him a ceiling that remains among the more legitimate ones in the minors.
Diaw Does It Again: The Switch From A+ to AA Has Not Slowed Him Down
Khadim Diaw (AA, C, Rank: 19) went 7-for-24 with a home run, four walks, and a hit by pitch in his week at Double-A Wichita, continuing a stretch that has been genuinely hard to ignore. Over the last 30 days at the Double-A level, he's slashing .329/.433/.474 with two homers, five doubles, and just seven strikeouts in 90 plate appearances. For a catcher who was still at High-A Cedar Rapids until mid-season, that's a convincing performance against a noticeably steeper level of competition.
The carrying tool was always the bat, and it's showing up across levels. Combined this season, he's hitting .297/.414/.429 with 7 home runs and 52 walks against only 64 strikeouts in 413 plate appearances. The 50 hit grade feels conservative right now, and I'd take the over. The power grade is a 40 and that feels more defensible: he's not punishing mistakes for extra bases at a consistent clip, and his value here is built on contact quality and on-base skill rather than home run production. Defensively, the questions remain real, his receiving and throwing mechanics are still developing after a late shift to catching, but the bat is making that conversation less urgent. If the glove reaches even fringe-average, there's a plausible path to an everyday catcher role in the big leagues.
Quick Hits
Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Twins (MLB, Minneapolis) · #30 · was selected from Triple-A St. Paul by the Twins on August 7, earning his first big-league call-up. The Twins' third-ranked prospect now gets a look at the highest level after a strong season in the minors. He had an .845 OPS at Triple-A.
Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF, Twins (AAA, St. Paul) · #43 · drove in 3 runs on 4 hits across 18 plate appearances this week without leaving the ballpark, drawing four walks and two hit-by-pitches to pad his on-base total. He's slashing .250/.416/.471 on the season with 6 home runs and a .414 on-base percentage across 32 games, and the 55 hit tool and 60 raw power both look right when he's healthy. His thumb surgery earlier this year limited his availability, so every clean week matters as he builds back toward a full workload.
Ryan Gallagher, RHP, Twins (AAA, St. Paul) · #667 · struck out 9 over six innings of one-run ball, allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk in his best outing in weeks. The ERA still sits at 5.99 through 17 Triple-A starts this season, which makes this week feel like a reminder of what his stuff can do when the command is present rather than a trend reversal. His slider and moving fastball played well together, and with 76 strikeouts in 73.2 innings at the level, the swing-and-miss is there; it's the control and hard contact that have kept the numbers ugly.
Gabriel Gonzalez, RF, Twins (AAA, St. Paul) · #318 · went 6-for-19 with a homer and a double, with just 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in the 19-plate-appearance stretch. He's hitting .276 over the last 30 days at Triple-A, settling into a groove that looks consistent with his 50 hit tool profile. At 22, he already has a big-league cameo on his 2026 ledger; the question now is whether the contact holds up enough against AAA pitching to force a longer look from Minnesota. His 12 home runs and 46 RBI on the season show the gap power is playing.
Enmanuel Merlo, SS, Twins (RK, Minneapolis) · #691 · reached base 10 times in 15 plate appearances this week, going 5-for-11 with two triples, four walks, and a hit-by-pitch. The 17-year-old switch-hitter is hitting .309 over the last 30 days at the rookie level with a .465 on-base percentage and more walks (14) than strikeouts (8) in 71 plate appearances. He's a contact bat with a 50 hit tool and a plus arm, and the zone feel for his age is genuinely ahead of schedule.
Quentin Young, SS, Twins (A, Fort Myers) · #276 · had 4 hits including a triple and a homer in 14 plate appearances, while striking out 6 times. He's slugging .524 over the last 30 days at Low-A with 4 home runs and 2 triples, and the 60 raw power grade is doing its job even when the strikeouts pile up. On the season he's at 14 home runs but also 165 punchouts in 370 plate appearances; the power is real, and so is the swing-and-miss concern that could eventually push him from shortstop to a corner role.
Vahn Lackey, C, Twins (A, Fort Myers) · #20 · had 5 hits with a double across 24 plate appearances, drawing 5 walks and 2 hit-by-pitches while striking out 6 times. The 21-year-old is hitting .227 on the year at Fort Myers, but his .469 on-base percentage over the last 30 days shows the plate discipline is real even if the average hasn't come around yet. He has a 55 hit tool and a 60 arm, and the defensive profile is advanced enough that the bat has room to develop without the prospect grade eroding.
Adrian Bohorquez, RHP, Twins (A+, Cedar Rapids) · #815 · threw five innings of shutout ball, scattering 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. Over the last 30 days he's posted a 2.08 ERA across 17.1 innings at High-A with 19 strikeouts, which is a meaningful improvement from a season that opened with a 5.34 ERA at the level. The 95-98 mph fastball and flashing slider are the easy parts; the command has been the project, and a 40 grade there still reflects real inconsistency. But stretches like this one show the up-down outcome on his projection card isn't the only possibility.
Dasan Hill, LHP, Blue Jays (A+, Vancouver) · #108 · was traded to Toronto as part of the package that brought Jeff Hoffman to Minnesota on August 3. Hill was the system's fourth-ranked arm, so his departure reshapes the upper tier of the pitching depth chart heading into the stretch run.
Kyler Fedko, OF, Twins (AAA, St. Paul) · #539 · was placed on the 7-day injured list by the St. Paul Saints on August 3. No timeline has been announced, but the placement is worth monitoring for a player who was already building his case for a big-league look this fall.
Yovanny Duran, OF, Twins (A, Fort Myers) · #1179 · received his first promotion from the FCL to Fort Myers on August 4, making the jump from the complex level to full-season ball for the first time.