The Twins’ season may be over, but the injury news is still rolling in.
After Minnesota closed out 2026 with a 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday, two more young arms in the organization landed in the spotlight for medical reasons. Walker Jenkins is headed for surgery on Wednesday morning to have bone chips and spurs removed from his right elbow, while Zebby Matthews is dealing with a flexor pronator strain that the Twins expect to treat conservatively.
Jenkins’ update came from Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune, who reported that the outfielder will undergo the procedure Wednesday morning. It adds another chapter to a season that never really settled into one rhythm for the 21-year-old.
Jenkins had already dealt with a shoulder injury in May before a rehab assignment sent him to Triple-A St. Paul, where he played 69 games.
He made his big league debut on Aug. 28 and ended up appearing in 26 games for Minnesota. In that stretch, he hit .226 with a .686 OPS and launched his first four major league home runs.
That’s a solid debut for a player that young, but it comes with another stop on the injury carousel instead of a clean offseason reset. Byron Buxton followed a similar grind this year, playing through hip discomfort since May before landing on the injured list Aug. 30 and eventually undergoing season-ending surgery Sept. 18.
For Jenkins, the procedure is expected to remove the irritation in his elbow, and the timing should still leave him in position for Spring Training 2027. It will, though, likely reshape his offseason work.
Matthews’ situation is less dramatic but still notable for a Twins team trying to sort out its pitching picture. He made his final start on Sept. 21, throwing five innings with five earned runs and nine strikeouts in a 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants. He finished the year 9-11 with a 4.90 ERA across 23 starts.
Nightengale reported that Matthews has a flexor pronator strain, and Minnesota believes conservative treatment will be enough to get him ready for the 2027 season.
The bigger picture for the Twins remains pretty clear: there’s plenty to sort through on the mound before Derek Shelton and Jeremy Zoll can feel comfortable with the arms they’ll have next year.
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