{"id":849843,"date":"2026-09-16T14:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/849843\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:14:12","slug":"twins-top-prospect-walker-jenkins-mired-in-a-1-for-33-slump-is-confident-hell-adjust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/849843\/","title":{"rendered":"Twins top prospect Walker Jenkins, mired in a 1-for-33 slump, is confident he\u2019ll adjust"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Though Walker Jenkins\u2019 stat line suggests he is overmatched, the Minnesota Twins\u2019 top prospect doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s been as bad as it looks.<\/p>\n

Off to a trying start to his major-league career, Jenkins remains steadfast that his first 53 plate appearances will be but a blip on the radar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to figure it out,\u201d Jenkins said Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Roughly 2 1\/2 weeks since arriving in the majors, Jenkins is locked in a massive struggle. The top Twins prospect to reach the majors since Royce Lewis, Jenkins is hitting .089\/.212\/.200 with one home run in 15 games.<\/p>\n

Recently, Jenkins, who was out of the lineup for Tuesday\u2019s 8-1 loss to the New York Yankees, has struggled even more, going 1-for-33 with 15 strikeouts since hitting his first big-league home run. Despite the constant failure, Jenkins contends he\u2019s been in darker places mentally.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I have been) in a much worse headspace than I am now,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cI\u2019m taking swings that I want to take. I\u2019ve had really solid plate discipline. I\u2019m just missing some of my pitches and then losing 3-2 at-bats or 3-2 counts or getting behind in counts and missing pitches I don\u2019t normally miss. It\u2019s kind of battling through some of that right now, and I think it\u2019s really, really close to being flipped around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenkins hit so much in August that the Twins couldn\u2019t overlook him when Byron Buxton suffered a hip injury on Aug. 28, resulting in a promotion from Triple-A St. Paul.<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s struggling enough for Twins manager Derek Shelton to ask Jenkins to bunt the runners over in a close game Monday night.<\/p>\n

The Twins understand how much of a talent gap there is between Triple A and the big leagues; Jenkins is one of 13 rookies to debut for them this season. But how each player will handle the transition is the unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge of coming to this level is something that none of us can really comprehend until you do it,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cWalker dominated at Triple A for three weeks before he got here. \u2026 Now he\u2019s scuffling a little bit. How do we adjust off that? How do we go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Since homering off Zach McKinstry on Aug. 31, Jenkins is striking out 45 percent of the time. But it isn\u2019t because he\u2019s chasing bad pitches out of the zone. Jenkins\u2019 chase rate is 25.4 percent, which Baseball Savant says is 3 percent better than the average player\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"Walker<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Walker Jenkins watches the path of his first major-league home run. He has struggled since that day, going 1-for-33 with 15 strikeouts since. (Matt Krohn \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Instead of making bad swing decisions, Jenkins is missing pitches in the zone or taking called third strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m competing my butt off and just not having anything to show for it right now and not winning (at-bats) that I feel like I\u2019m used to winning,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cI don\u2019t feel overmatched. I feel like I\u2019m more beating myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Shelton thinks Jenkins\u2019 timing is off, the player thinks his mechanics aren\u2019t out of whack. No matter how much Jenkins is struggling, the Twins like how he has handled himself during a trying time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 21, I couldn\u2019t have done it,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cHe\u2019s maintained the exact same attitude. His work, his effort, the way he is in the dugout, the teammate he is. All that has stood out. \u2026 In the long run, this is going to be good for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Twins also know Jenkins\u2019 early struggles follow a pattern.<\/p>\n

When he moved up to High-A Cedar Rapids from Single-A Fort Myers in July 2024, Jenkins produced a .551 OPS in his first 54 plate appearances. After a September 2024 promotion to Double-A Wichita, Jenkins had a .450 OPS in his first 28 trips to the plate. Last August, Jenkins went 1-for-20 upon arriving at St. Paul.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s happened at every level, for whatever reason, and I do think it is just that adjustment period,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cNew surroundings, new teammates, new field, better competition. It\u2019s some of it all. \u2026 I truly have the confidence that it\u2019s an at-bat or two away from turning it around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hitting coach Keith Beauregard recognizes Jenkins\u2019 confidence and lack of panic. He thinks Jenkins will adapt in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery guy who comes up, no matter what age, they get used to a variety of different things,\u201d Beauregard said. \u201cThe plane rides, the different angles from lefties, different shapes from righties, the velo, the location, the consistency of attacking holes and plans and executing on those. He\u2019s adapting. He\u2019s learning. He\u2019s figuring it out. Not worried about him one bit. \u2026 We believe in him. He believes in himself. As long as you\u2019ve got that self-belief, it will take you very far in this game. We know he has the skill to back that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The belief Jenkins has in himself is strong. Approached by reporters about his early struggles, Jenkins didn\u2019t waver, sounding confident with each question he was asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe that everything happens for a reason,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cI\u2019m going to tell you right now, I\u2019m not going to keep hitting (.089) for the rest of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury notes<\/p>\n

Twins rookie shortstop Kaelen Culpepper exited Tuesday\u2019s game with left hamstring tightness, the team said. \u2026 An MRI revealed outfielder Trevor Larnach is dealing with inflammation in his left wrist, Shelton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Though Walker Jenkins\u2019 stat line suggests he is overmatched, the Minnesota Twins\u2019 top prospect doesn\u2019t think…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2326,363,99],"class_list":["post-849843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}