Walker Jenkins is finally headed to the big leagues.
The Minnesota Twins called up Jenkins, the former South Brunswick High School star and No. 15 prospect in baseball, on Thursday, Aug. 27, setting the stage for his MLB debut against the Chicago White Sox on Friday, Aug. 28.
Twins fans had been clamoring for Jenkins' promotion from Triple-A St. Paul for weeks, and the former South Brunswick star's torrid August only strengthened their case.
The left-handed power hitter has refused to cool off, crushing eight home runs in his last 15 games for the Saints, including a pair of two-homer performances less than a week apart.
Jenkins becomes the fourth Wilmington-area baseball prospect to reach the major leagues since 2017.
The Twins selected Jenkins
with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He signed with Minnesota for $7.14 million just days after his 18th birthday and quickly established himself as one of the organization's brightest young stars.
The #MNTwins are calling up MLB's No. 15 overall prospect Walker Jenkins for what would be his big league debut, per @JonathanMayo.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 27, 2026
The No. 5 pick in the 2023 Draft possesses 5 above-average-or-better tools with a .976 OPS this season: https://t.co/8WIP1Zbodr pic.twitter.com/6uxxqrMqAl
Now, he's a major leaguer.
Walker Jenkins climbs through Minnesota Twins organization
Jenkins wasted little time showing why Minnesota invested a top-five pick in him.
He posted a .988 OPS across 26 games during his professional debut in 2023 and continued climbing through the Twins' farm system despite injuries interrupting portions of each of his first several professional seasons.
A quad strain and hamstring injury limited him in 2024 before an ankle injury delayed his 2025 season. Jenkins still reached Triple-A St. Paul before his 21st birthday.
Another setback came in May 2026 when Jenkins suffered a shoulder joint sprain after crashing into the center-field wall while playing for St. Paul.
Once healthy, however, Jenkins began making an increasingly difficult case for Minnesota to ignore.
Through 69 Triple-A games this season, Jenkins was batting .308 with a .407 on-base percentage and .532 slugging percentage. He had 12 home runs, 32 extra-base hits, 51 runs, 28 RBIs and 17 stolen bases while striking out just 48 times against 42 walks.
Jenkins' unrelenting August had already made a strong case for his promotion.
But his path to the majors became much clearer Tuesday, Aug. 25, when Twins center fielder Byron Buxton exited Minnesota's loss to the Athletics with right hip discomfort.
At the time of his promotion, MLB Pipeline ranked Jenkins as Minnesota's No. 1 prospect and the No. 15 prospect in baseball.
Walker Jenkins reaches MLB after starring at South Brunswick
Before Jenkins became one of baseball's premier prospects, he was one of the most decorated athletes in the history of South Brunswick High School.
The 6-foot-3 outfielder was an immediatesensation for the Cougars, winning back-to-back Gatorade North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year awards in 2022 and 2023.
Jenkins helped lead the Cougars to the NCHSAA 3A state championship as a sophomore in 2021 and developed into one of the country's most coveted amateur players over his final two seasons.
By the spring of 2023, Jenkins had established himself as one of the elite prospects in a loaded MLB Draft class.
Minnesota ultimately selected him fifth overall, behind Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews, Max Clark and Wyatt Langford.
When will Walker Jenkins make his MLB debut?
Jenkins is expected to make his MLB debut Friday, Aug. 28, against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET
Jenkins joins a Twins organization that drafted him as an 18-year-old out of South Brunswick High School with the hope that his combination of hitting ability, power and athleticism could eventually make him an everyday major league outfielder.
Three years later, that future has arrived.
For Wilmington-area baseball fans who watched Jenkins develop from a teenage phenom into a top-five draft pick, his next at-bat will come on baseball's biggest stage.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: South Brunswick star Walker Jenkins called up to MLB by Minnesota Twins
