This week we’re back to looking at a kid who should be getting his call-up to MLB soon and is worth a stash, much like Cooper Pratt a few weeks ago for the Brewers. I took some liberties with the title, but that’s what we do here at Razzball. It’s not often I can loop in a 14th-century epic Italian poem, a mediocre Ex-Vikings Quarterback, and a 2026 MLB SAGNOF target all in seven words. The name of the prospect we are stashing this week for steals is Kaelen Culpepper.
Culpepper was the Twins first round draft pick in 2024, taken 21st overall out of Kansas State. In 2025 across High-A ball and AA, he hit .289 with 20 Home Runs and 25 stolen bases. His K-Rate was 17.4%, and the BB rate was at 9.7%. He is repeating much of the same this year at AAA. The average is a little lower at .269, but he’s already hit 14 Home Runs to go along with 15 Stolen bases. His hit tool was never rated as great, but the speed and pitch recognition skills are solid.
He just returned on Saturday from a two-week stint in the IL with a left hip strain, but he seems healthy. It is likely that if he hadn’t gotten hurt, he would have been called up instead of Kyler Fedko earlier this month. Currently blocking him at SS in the majors for the Twins is a combination of Tristan Gray and Ryan Kreidler, who have combined for 4 Home Runs and 4 Stolen Bases on the season. Gray is second to last on the Fielding Run Value metric at Statcast, so the glove isn’t playing well either. Thus far, Culpepper has just 3 errors in 165 chances.
As far as baserunning goes, Culpepper has 44 Minor League stolen bases and has been caught just 7 times. Speed rating looks to be solid, and he should easily land in the top 100 in MLB.
The moral of the story is he’s going to be called up soon and should play almost every day. For sure worth a stash for an enticing power/speed combo for the rest of the season.
Here’s this week’s Stolen Bases Leaderboard
The Speed Dials
1 for 2 last time out as A.J. Ewing cashed for us. Now 3 for 13 on the season. These are correctly predicting Stolen Base streamers on exact days. We’re only looking at a couple of days, but you can do this anytime you set your lineups.
Wednesday, July 1st – Mets vs Blue Jays
Tyrone Taylor/A.J. Ewing – I’m not sure who will be in center field versus left-hander Patrick Corbin. Tyrone Taylor got the start against a lefty in center Sunday after coming off the IL. Whoever it is should be your Speed Dial today. Taylor isn’t a young man anymore at 32, but his sprint speed since the start of last year is still 29.2 Ft/Sec. Ewing, we’ve talked about a bunch in these articles and checks in at 29.7 Ft/Sec. Corbin allows .151 SB/IP, but should be helped if Luis Torrens is behind the plate. Torrens is #! on the catcher throwing leaderboard since the start of 2025. Francisco Alvarez ranks in the middle of the pack if he’s behind the plate.
Thursday, July 2nd – Cardinals vs Braves
Bryan Torres – I think the Cardinals are looking for some spark with Torres getting a few spot starts in the last week. He stole 10 bases in the minors this season in 166 plate appearances. He’ll face Bryce Elder and the Braves. Elder allows .126 SB/IP and an 86.7% success rate against. Drake Baldwin is 65th out of 68 qualified catchers in cutting down base stealers on the season.
As always, if you’re looking for anything further out for next week, where we don’t have exact pitching match-ups, hit me up here or on Twitter @TheGreatKnoche
