Hello everyone, welcome back to another Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player entry.
With teams falling out of the playoff race, they are turning their gaze to 2027 and calling up some of their top prospects. One of the teams looking to next season is the Minnesota Twins, who recalled one of their top prospects in Kaelen Culpepper.
Culpepper entered the season as the 74th ranked prospect by Baseball America, 52nd by MLB, and 71st by Baseball Prospectus. He did not disappoint in the minors this season at Triple-A St. Paul. In 74 games played, he scored 63 runs with 14 homers, 46 RBI and 17 steals with a .271/.367/.478 slash line.
Let’s dive in and take a look at Culpepper.
The Stats
| YEAR | LEVEL | G | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-24 | NCAA | 152 | 109 | 26 | 122 | 27 | .314 | .402 | .531 |
| 2024 | A | A+ | 26 | 17 | 3 | 12 | 4 | .242 | .330 | .394 |
| 2025 | A+ | AA | 113 | 77 | 20 | 64 | 25 | .289 | .375 | .469 |
| 2026 | AAA | 74 | 63 | 14 | 46 | 17 | .271 | .367 | .478 |
| 2026 | Twins | 22 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .300 | .352 | .463 |
Undrafted out of high school, Kaelen Culpepper went to Kansas State and immediately became a starter for the Wildcats, first as a third baseman his first two seasons before moving to shortstop as a junior. Each season saw improvement from Culpepper. As a freshman, he slashed .283/.356/.428 with five homers and 22 RBI. Those numbers improved to .325/.423/.576-10-41 in 2023 and then jumped to .328/.419/.574-11-59 with 17 steals.
The Twins then drafted Culpepper with the 21st overall pick in the 2024 draft, making him the first Kansas State position player to be drafted in the first round. Just over two years later, Culpepper finds himself in the majors after playing in a total of only 213 minor league games and missing a month of the minor league season this year due to a glute strain.
- Power
Through Thursday, Culpepper already has three homers in 80 at-bats, all to his pull side to left field. Standing 5-foot-10, Culpepper doesn’t have a lot of raw power, but he has a quick enough bat to drive the ball to left for power. But should you count on him to hit a lot of homers? I wouldn’t. He had a high ground ball rate in the minors, and in his limited time with the Twins he has a 40% ground ball rate.
He also doesn’t hit the ball hard. His average EV so far is 87.4 mph, below the MLB average, with a 4.9% barrel rate (MLB average is 7.6%) and a Hard Hit% of 32.3, below the MLB average of 37.1. The good news is those numbers were better at Triple A, where he had a 90.5 EV, 7.3 Barrel% and 45.5% Hard Hit%. Still, Culpepper is going to make a living by getting on base via singles and doubles, not hitting homers.
- Hit
Pro scouts gave Kaelen Culpepper a 55 Hit Grade, and he has shown why during his brief time in the minors. In 2024, he had a 13.4% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate. In 2025 those numbers were 17.4% and 9.7%, and this year he had an 18.7 strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. While his power is to the pull side, he can spray the ball to all fields and finds the gaps to lead to doubles.
He has a history of being able to hit fastballs, and so far that has carried over to the majors. Against fastballs, he has a .325 average and .600 SLG, going 13-for-40 with two doubles and three homers with an 18.8% whiff rate.
But breaking balls are a challenge for Culpepper. With Minnesota, he has a .190 average and SLG with a 39.2% whiff rate.
- Speed
Kaelen Culpepper isn’t slow, but he is not the swiftest of runners, as his current 27.9 sprint speed ranks in the 63rd percentile. But Culpepper is a solid baserunner as he stole 27 bases in 31 attempts at Kansas State and went 46-for-54 in the minors. So far, he has not attempted a steal with the Twins.
The Results
Once the Twins recalled Culpepper, they inserted him into the lineup, and he has been there since. All he has done is hit for the Twins, collecting at least one hit in 17 of the 22 games he has appeared in. He has also pieced together hitting streaks of seven and six games, with one hitless game splitting those two streaks. And while his walk rate isn’t great right now at 5.7%, his 21.6% strikeout rate is on par with the MLB average.
You shouldn’t worry about his ability to hit. That is something Culpepper does well and will continue to do well. He will hit some homers, but I’m not sure he will ever become a “home run hitter.” But he will slug enough dingers to make him more than an AVG/OBP player with some steals.
The only question is whether he remains at shortstop. He has the arm to play the position, but his range is questionable, and a move to third base or second base could happen in the future. The Twins are obviously not 100% sold on him as sticking at short, as he has seen time at second and third base down on the farm. But no matter where he plays in the field, Culpepper should be an above average hitter and offer solid fantasy value.
Thank You
Thanks for reading, and come back again next week.
