Twins draft college shortstops Kellen Culpepper, Kyle DeBarge selected in first round

Like any team, the Minnesota Twins were happy to pick No. 21 in the 2024 MLB Draft instead of No. 5 and No. 8 the past two years, because it meant they were coming off a winning 2023 season.

But the first round on Sunday night was a less exciting experience.

Two years ago, after going 73–89 the previous season, the Twins had the No. 8 pick and were thrilled to land Cal-Poly shortstop Brooks Lee, who was widely regarded as the top college hitter in the draft class. Was seen in. Lee was immediately regarded as a consensus top 100 prospect, he quickly catapulted himself into top 30 status and is now in the big leagues at the age of 23, looking like a future star.

Last year, the Twins got lucky in MLB’s inaugural draft lottery, moving up eight spots to No. 5 in a loaded class by drafting high school outfielder Walker Jenkins, a big moment for the organization. Still just 19 years old, Jenkins is already the crown jewel of the Twins’ strong farm system and is considered a consensus top 10 prospect with MVP-caliber upside.

This time, the Twins did not lose or reach the top 10. With no luck, they secured their assigned No. 21 spot in the playoff-team section of the first round. But they still think they’ve landed a potential impact player in Kansas State infielder Kellen Culpepper, a right-handed hitter who pitched as a freshman and sophomore before switching to shortstop last season. Started at third base.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1812664683955941696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“Picking the twenties, it’s a long wait and you’re not sure what your board is going to be like,” said scouting director Sean Johnson. “In a few years, you are completely destroyed. Every few years, you have a few options to choose from. Kellen was definitely someone we expected to make it into our range of choices. And we are happy to have him.”

At the plate, Culpepper is coming off back-to-back, nearly identical monster seasons, batting .328/.419/.574 this year and .325/.423/.576 last year, totaling 21 homers and 26 RBIs. Stolen in joint games.

,I consider myself a five-tool player, B“Absolutely fast,” Culpepper said. “I want to be a guy that steals 30, 40, maybe even 50 bases.”

Culpepper controlled the strike zone well in college and received praise for his fast hands and balanced, line-drive swing, but there were questions about his aggressive approach, especially against off-speed pitches.

athletic Keith Law ranked him as the No. 30 player in the class, also writing: “Culpepper has one of the best swings in the class, and if he could deploy it a little less often, he could be a strong regular. Going to become a player. When he is swinging at strikes, he is very fast and straight on the ball and gets good loft in his finishes for at least extra-base power, hitting hard line drives to all fields.

Culpepper was rated the same according to ESPN (No. 28), MLB.com (No. 31) and Baseball America (No. 34), with the greatest variation in opinion regarding whether the 21-year-old would be able to hold up defensively. A shortstop by definition, and how much home run power he is able to develop at 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds.

,I played third base my first two years at Kansas State,” Culpepper said. ,We had a really good shortstop when I came in. But after they got drafted last year, I was able to go right away (to shortstop). I think I’ve done a really good job of hanging on to shortstop, but I’ve always been a shortstop. This seems natural to me. I could see myself there for a long time.

Culpepper played for the U.S. collegiate national team coached by Brooks Lee’s father and longtime Cal-Poly head coach Larry Lee, who strongly endorsed the Twins as a player and person.

“We really admired the way (Culpepper) played the game with Team USA last summer,” Johnson said. “We think he can kill. We think he will have the power. He is at least an average runner. He has at least an average arm. And we think he can defend with a chance to remain at shortstop. So it was very attractive to us.”

https://twitter.com/RaginCajunsBSB/status/1784031438104301595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Awarded a second first-round pick as compensation for losing Sonny Gray in free agency, the Twins used the No. 33 selection on another right-handed hitting college infielder. Louisiana–Lafayette shortstop Kyle DeBarge.

Hitting .356/.418/.699 with 21 homers in 62 games after totaling 10 homers each of his first two seasons, DeBarge had a breakout junior season by adding significant power without sacrificing his strong contact skills. DeBarge is even smaller than Culpepper at 5 feet 9 and 175 pounds, but the 21-year-old slugged his way to Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors.

athletic He was ranked 47th in the class, with Law writing: “DeBarge rarely misses a fastball strike, and has no trouble when he faces good velocity. He has the arm for a shortstop, but his arm is a little small for the left side of the infield and he probably performs best at second base.

Given the stylistic similarities between Culpepper and DeBarge, it would be hard to conclude that the Twins had a “type” they were targeting this year: small-framed, good-hitting college middle infielders who have Has exceptional hand-eye coordination for which there is some industry widespread disagreement about their future defensive home and long-term power potential.

They’re betting on swings, not size.

“That’s really what drives our decisions, at least on the first night,” Johnson said. “We want to take players that we believe can hit and play multiple positions. It’s really in line with how (manager) Rocco (Baldelli) deploys his roster on a nightly basis. It’s good to give him potential pieces that can play around the diamond.

https://twitter.com/Vol_Baseball/status/1759409773991133264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

With their second-round selection, No. 60 overall, the Twins selected Tennessee slugger Billy Amick, who blasted 23 homers in 65 games for the College World Series winners after transferring from Clemson. He played third base this season, but had his best performance at first base as a prototypical big-power, swing-and-miss right-handed bat.

athletic He was ranked No. 58, with Law writing: “Amik is a great pick for the second round, as he has shown good batting in the first round, but once he gets to pro ball, he needs to be improved in a number of areas.” There is a need for development.”

“He was a good player at Clemson,” Johnson said. “Then he was on this decorated Tennessee team that was loaded with really good hitters. You look at his underlying stats beyond the stat sheet, and we felt really good about his swing. We are really glad he was on board even at the age of 60.”

With their fourth and final Day 1 pick, a competitive balance-round choice, the Twins took Texas high school pitcher Dasan Hill, a 6-foot-5 left-hander, at No. 1 to add weight and velocity. There was enough space. 69.

athletic He was ranked 40th, with Law calling Hill “a projectile lefty who shows average speed now, but should easily reach the mid-90s with experience spinning two different breaking balls. This is the classic high school projection archetype.

“We looked at Dason Hill a lot,” Johnson said. “He has made a nice jump from last summer to this spring. Our area scout, Trevor Brown, I think he’s seen him pitch eight times this spring. We had a lot of looks. He was Trevor Brown’s Bullet Man. We think once we get him into our system, we can do a lot more to develop him physically and his pitches. That pick was a nice way to end the day.

(Photo by Kellen Culpepper: Gene Wang/Getty Images)