The second-best prospect in all of baseball opens the season with Wichita Wind Surge
The top Minnesota Twins prospect in its farm system is set to begin the season at the Double-A level playing for the Wichita Wind Surge.
Walker Jenkins, a 20-year-old currently the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball, will start in center field for the Wind Surge when they open the 2025 season on the road against the Springfield Cardinals in a 6:35 p.m. game Friday. The Surge play their first home game at the newly-renamed Equity Bank Park against the Midland Rockhounds at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8.
Despite being just two years removed from high school, Jenkins already has a mature approach to how he’s handling the pressure of such weighty expectations within the organization. He is the highest-rated prospect to begin the season in Wichita in Wind Surge history.
“There are so many awesome ball players, but more importantly, awesome people here on the Wind Surge that it really makes it easy to just be here with them,” Jenkins said. “You want to go compete and do everything you can to help them while you’re here. Everyone has that goal of making it to the big leagues and you want to get there as fast as you can, but whatever team I’m on, I want to go out there and win and do the best I can. You can’t move on until you do good where you’re at and that’s a big thing I remind myself of.”
After overcoming an injury-plagued first half of his first full season in the minor leagues, Jenkins certainly found success in the second half of last season. He produced a slash line of a .303 batting average, a .404 on-base percentage and a .494 slugging percentage in the final two months of the season, including a 6-game stint in Wichita to end the 2024 season.
Wind Surge manager Brian Dinkelman is entering his first year in Wichita, but is plenty familiar with Jenkins after coaching him at the Twins’ High-A affiliate in Cedar Rapids. Jenkins has just about every tool in the tool box, so rather than focusing on an area of improvement during his time in Wichita, Dinkelman just wants to see his coveted prospect on the field every day.
“We’re just trying to keep him healthy and get him daily reps of being out there,” Dinkelman said. “The talent is there with him, so now it’s just about getting him experience and going through the ups and downs of a whole season that all players go through. And then try to help him along the way and try to coach him up as much as possible and get him to (Triple-A) St. Paul and then Minnesota.”
With a 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame with plus-hitting and plus-power, a move to a corner outfield spot may be in store for Jenkins as he rises up the organization. But for now, the left-handed hitter will hold down center field in Wichita and look to build on the strong finish to last summer.
He said spending spring training with the Twins’ current major leaguers proved invaluable.
“You learn a lot from the older guys in how they don’t let failure get to them,” Jenkins said. “This is a game of failure, as frustrating as it is. You see them have a bad day, a great day, they walk around the same. It’s not any different. So being able to stay pretty level-headed and go about your business each and every day, whether you go 0-for-4 or 4-for-4 is a big difference in what makes guys good versus great.”
And as far as the lofty expectations that come with being such a high draft pick? Jenkins said bring them on.
“I enjoy them,” he said. “I think it’s a blessing to have expectations on you. I want to live up to them. I know you don’t always, but I fully intend to.”
Jenkins won’t be the only highly-rated prospect to begin the season in Wichita.
He will be joined by southpaw hurler Connor Prielipp, who is Wichita’s opening day starter and ranked No. 5 in the organization, catcher Ricardo Olivar (No. 17) and fellow outfielder Kala’i Rosario (No. 21).
“With the Twins’ organization, they’re big on player development and getting guys to come through the system to the big leagues,” Dinkelman said. “They don’t go out and spend big money on free agents at the big-league level, so you have to help produce players from within. They put a lot of resources into our player development to help these guys get better and hopefully get them to the major leagues.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 6:07 AM.
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