MINNEAPOLIS - Walker Jenkins’ big league start has been rough on the scoreboard, but the Twins aren’t seeing a young player unraveling in the process.
Jenkins, Minnesota’s top prospect and baseball’s No. 14 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, entered Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees at Target Field in a deep slump. He was hitless in his past five games, 0-for-16 over that stretch, and had just four hits in 53 plate appearances.
Still, the numbers haven’t shaken him.
“I just feel like I’m competing my butt off and just not having [anything] to show for it right now, and just not winning ABs that I feel like I’m used to winning,” said Jenkins. “But it’s still like it’s one of those things; I don’t feel overmatched. I feel like I’m more beating myself and trying to not go 10-for-10 with 10 home runs in one at-bat.”
That kind of response is part of why the Twins keep sounding so calm about where he is right now. Manager Derek Shelton pointed to the challenge of arriving in the majors and how few players can truly grasp it before they’ve lived it.
“The challenge of coming to this level is something that none of us can really comprehend until you do it,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “I think the one thing Walker has done really well, and I commend him on, and I guaran-damn-tee you at 21 I couldn’t have done it: He’s maintained the exact same attitude.”
Jenkins has been through adjustment periods before. He opened his first week at Triple-A St. Paul last August by going 1-for-20, and after moving up to Double-A Wichita in 2024, he finished that season 4-for-25.
The majors make every slump feel louder, but Jenkins said the internal side of it is not spiraling.
“Mentally I have been, throughout my Minor League career, in a much worse headspace than I am now. It’s one of those things that, like I said, I’m taking swings that I want to take.
I’ve had really solid plate discipline. I’m just missing some of my pitches,” Jenkins said.
That steady approach has kept the Twins and his teammates from worrying about whether the hits will come. Their expectation is that when Jenkins starts squaring balls up, the production will arrive in waves.
“He definitely doesn’t act like a 21-year-old; it’s crazy,” said Josh Bell. “We talked amongst the clubhouse about how we weren’t ready for the big leagues at 21, and he is.
Obviously, the results haven’t been there. But his mindset and his attack plan, we talk about what he sees up there, and he’s so much more advanced than I was.”
Twins hitting coach Keith Beauregard echoed that confidence, noting Jenkins’ experience is still tiny compared with the rest of the league.
“He's 40 at-bats into his big league career,” said Twins hitting coach Keith Beauregard. “He's smart, never any panic.
We believe in him. He believes in himself.
As long as you've got that self belief, it will take you very far in this game. We know he has the skill to back that up.”
The Twins held Jenkins out against Yankees left-hander Max Fried on Tuesday night, and with another lefty, Carlos Rodón, scheduled to start Wednesday, he could get another chance soon to break out of the skid.
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