Kaelen Culpepper’s first night in the majors didn’t just go well - it came with a built-in highlight reel and a perfect landing spot in a Twins comeback win.
Minnesota needed a jolt. The club has been hanging around the bottom wild-card spot in the American League over the last couple of weeks, and after making a big bet at the trade deadline, it’s trying to claw its way back to .500. That’s part of why the Twins brought up shortstop Kaelen Culpepper for the opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The fit made sense on paper. Culpepper had already shown real pop in his first season facing Triple-A pitching, putting up 14 home runs, 46 RBIs and nearly 40 walks. Minnesota has been looking for more punch in the lineup, and the rookie gave them exactly that almost immediately.
Josh Bell opened the scoring with a two-run homer, trimming the gap and setting the stage for Culpepper’s second big-league at-bat in the fourth inning. Batting second in the order, he stepped in against Shane Drohan and made his first major league hit count in the loudest way possible.
On a 94 mph fastball at the top of the zone, Culpepper turned loose and sent it out for a home run, pulling the Twins within a run and giving his debut a storybook twist.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW KAELEN CULPEPPER pic.twitter.com/Mn0ETtRPEw
From there, the Twins kept rolling. The back-to-back homers helped spark a run Milwaukee couldn’t answer, and Minnesota escaped with an 8-6 road win to grab Game 1 and move to one game under .500.
For a team still chasing power, Culpepper’s debut checked every box. He got the first hit out of the way, flashed the kind of pop that earned him the call, and looked like a player who won’t be headed back down anytime soon.
With Brewers fireballer Jacob Misiorowski set to start Sunday, Friday night carried real weight for Minnesota. If the Twins want to steal the series on the road, Saturday becomes the next must-have.
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