Walker Jenkins Keeps Getting Hurt. He Also Keeps Coming Back Swinging.

Walker Jenkins spent seven weeks on the injured list this summer, a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his left shoulder from crashing into the CHS Field wall on a catch. That is not the first time. A quad and a hamstring slowed his 2024. An ankle sprain cost him a chunk of 2025. Three straight seasons interrupted, and Jenkins has played in only 192 professional games since the Twins made him the fifth overall pick in 2023 for $7.14 million.

Here is what is also real. Since returning June 23, Jenkins is 13-for-31, a .419 average, with two doubles, two triples, two home runs, four RBI and six runs scored in his first eight games back. On July 1 he went 3-for-5 with a triple and a double, one hit shy of the cycle. He's healthy, and he's hitting like the injury never happened.

The season line still reads modest, .277/.386/.440 with a .826 OPS over 166 plate appearances, dragged down by missed time and a rough platoon split against left-handed pitching (.601 OPS) that has not caught up yet to how he handles right-handers (1.039 OPS). Zoom out and the pedigree is undeniable: the Twins' 2025 Minor League Player of the Year, MLB Pipeline's No. 14 overall prospect, added late to the Futures Game roster, where he walked twice, scored a run, and got caught trying to steal third.

It's time for Walker Jenkins's MLB debut. Over his last five games he is 6-for-19 with a double, a triple and a home run. The health is finally on his side. The bat never left.

The Rising Star

Michael Arroyo, SS, Tacoma Rainiers (Triple-A, Mariners)

Arroyo opened this year cold at Double-A Arkansas, a .678 OPS in April that did not match the hype behind his $1.375 million signing out of Colombia in 2022. Each month got better. May brought a .751 OPS, June a .888, and by the time Seattle promoted him to Tacoma on July 6 alongside Lazaro Montes, he was running a 1.211 OPS across the transition. Six games into Triple-A he is hitting .346 with a 1.137 OPS. Double Dip already had him on the radar, flagging his teenage power back in Issue 1. The Mariners' No. 4 prospect has cut his strikeout rate to 18.7 percent this year and is drawing walks at a 12.4 percent clip, with Seattle now working him into the outfield to open a path to the lineup. The bat is heating up at exactly the right time.

Under the Radar

Jonathon Long, 1B, Iowa Cubs (Triple-A, Cubs)

A ninth-round pick in 2023 out of Long Beach State, 266th overall, he carries none of the prospect shine of the names above him on this roster. Long slumped to a .577 OPS in May, then climbed to .857 in June, then broke out completely in July: .333/.417/.690 with six doubles in just 48 plate appearances, a 1.107 OPS. His second half overall sits at .983 OPS, a real jump from a .733 first half. The full season line, .270/.352/.431 with 10 home runs, still undersells what is happening right now. He is also hitting lefties slightly better than righties this year, an unusual split for a right-handed bat. The Cubs' No. 7 prospect is quietly having his best month as a professional.

Worth Watching

Nestor German, RHP, Norfolk Tides (Triple-A, Orioles)

German's season ERA, 4.11 over 85.1 innings, is not telling you what is actually happening right now. April was rough, a 5.49 ERA, and June was worse, 6.65. Then July arrived and German has not allowed a run: two starts, 12 innings, 10 strikeouts, a 0.75 WHIP, hitters batting .186 against him. That is a full month of dominance the season line has not caught up to yet. An 11th-round pick in 2023 out of Seattle University after a 6.43 college ERA, German has built a four-pitch mix around a unique over-the-top delivery, working up in the zone with the fastball and burying two above-average breaking balls below it. He added a splitter last year specifically to combat left-handed hitters, though he has actually been tougher on righties so far. We have him projected for a big league debut next year but if this keeps up it could be sooner.

Tyler Locklear, 1B | Reno Aces to Arizona Diamondbacks

Tyler Locklear has already gotten two chances in the majors and left unsatisfied both times. Seattle's 2022 second-round pick out of VCU debuted with the Mariners in 2024 and hit .156 in 49 plate appearances. Arizona traded for him, gave him another look in 2025, and he hit .175 in 116 plate appearances. Two trials, two rough lines, and a demotion back to Triple-A each time.

This version of Locklear looks different. He is hitting .313/.394/.502 with 8 home runs at Reno, and July has been the best month of his season by a wide margin: .442/.529/.930 with a 1.459 OPS in 51 plate appearances. His last four games alone were absurd, four home runs, eight RBI, a .588 average and a 2.044 OPS. Against left-handed pitching specifically he is hitting .356 with a 1.008 OPS.

The timing lines up. Arizona's first base situation is a mess. Pavin Smith got hurt, struggled when he came back, and was designated for assignment. Carlos Santana barely played before an injury ended his stint and got him DFA'd too. Right now it's Ildemaro Vargas who is having a career year but is 35. Locklear seems more like the future. He is a former top-100 bat who has already had the look, and Arizona has a real, specific hole he fits. The trade deadline is August 3. If the Diamondbacks decide the fix is already in their own system, that is the deadline this gets resolved by.

Correcting the Record on the Futures Game's Triple-A Contingent

Issue 6 flagged eight Triple-A names on the Futures Game roster. There were actually nine, the Twins added Jenkins as their second addition days later, and that addition ended up mattering: Kaelen Culpepper never showed up in the box score. He wasn't scratched for rest, he took a pitch off his hand in his last tune-up before Philadelphia and couldn't play.

The rest of the group did what you'd expect from an All-Star roster. Velazquez drove in a run with a first-inning single and turned an unassisted double play in the sixth, the kind of two-way game that has Cleveland's system buzzing about him. Rada did what Rada does, a stolen base and a run scored, tools over highlight reel. Clifford's only plate appearance was a six-pitch walk against a real Top 25 arm in Jamie Arnold, a patient at-bat that says more than the line itself. Condon had a rare quiet day at 0-for-2, a blip in a July that's otherwise had him running a 1.347 OPS.

A Futures Game invite is a scouting department's opinion. What actually happens on the field is still the only thing that counts, and for most of this group, it backed the selection up.

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