Twins draft Kansas State shortstop Kaelen Culpepper in first round

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Kaelen Culpepper sat in the Cowtown Coliseum green room alongside seven family members, and he burst into tears when he heard his name called as the Twins’ first-round pick Sunday.

He was thinking about his path to becoming the No. 21 overall pick in this year’s amateur draft. The long nights working out with his dad and his brother, dreaming about a day like Sunday. He used to sleep with his glove next to him, which he nicknamed “Lucy,” when he was a kid.

“I’ve always been overlooked as a player, and I’ve always felt like I was underrated,” said Culpepper, a shortstop from Kansas State. “Just being here means a lot to me. All my hard work definitely paid off.”

Culpepper, a righthanded hitter, hit .328 with 11 homers, 15 doubles, 59 RBI and nearly as many walks (35) as strikeouts (41) in 61 games. He became the second Kansas State player drafted in the first round since 1972. The slot value for the No. 21 pick is $3.93 million.

Listed at 6-foot, 185 pounds, Culpepper has a flatter swing that is more geared toward doubles than homers. His draft stock surged when he had a breakout 2023 season, and he was one of the better performers on USA Baseball’s National Collegiate Team with Larry Lee — Twins infielder Brooks Lee’s dad — as his manager. Baseball America rated Culpepper as the 34th-best player in this draft class.

He said he was “shocked” the Twins took him because he didn’t hear from them much after an hourlong chat at last month’s MLB Draft Combine.

“I know they are a great organization, and they just got a really good baseball player,” said Culpepper, who was one of six first-round picks who attended the draft.

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It was an emotional night for Culpepper’s family. His parents, Kenneth and Tiffanie, stood next to him when he conducted his first interview.

Growing up in Memphis, there were a lot of nights when Culpepper traveled 45 minutes to a facility in Arkansas to take batting practice and field ground balls with his dad and older brother, Tyler.

“We would literally get up on a school night at like 10 o’clock and go out there,” Culpepper said. “My mom, she would be mad because ‘you have to be up in the morning for school.’ We’re out there until 12, 1 o’clock, just getting work in.”

Culpepper, whom everyone outside of his family calls “KC,” played up two years to play alongside his brother in youth baseball. It was a chance to challenge him when he couldn’t participate in some of the elite travel ball programs.

“We couldn’t get to the big tournaments because I didn’t have the money,” Kenneth Culpepper said. “We had to stay small in baseball. When we did get out, they overlooked him because they didn’t believe that he was big enough. They didn’t believe that he was good enough. But he stuck with it.”

The Twins selected Louisiana Lafayette shortstop Kyle DeBarge with the No. 33 overall pick, a compensatory selection after Sonny Gray departed to St. Louis as a free agent. DeBarge, 5-9 and 175 pounds, is an excellent contact hitter who batted .355 in 62 games this year with 21 homers, 19 doubles and 72 RBI, earning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.

To complete the first day of the draft, the Twins picked Tennessee third baseman Billy Amick in the second round (No. 60 overall) — the son of NASCAR driver Lyndon Amick — and Dallas-area high school lefthander Dasan Hill with the No. 69 pick.

“It couldn’t have gone much better from what we thought we were going to get out of the night and what we ended up with,” said Twins scouting director Sean Johnson. “That’s a rare feeling most of the time.”

The draft continues with Rounds 3-10 on Monday and Rounds 11-20 on Tuesday.

Twins’ recent first-round draft picks

2023 — OF Walker Jenkins: Slowed by a hamstring strain earlier this year, he’s hitting .253 with two homers, 23 RBI and more walks than strikeouts in 25 games at Class A Fort Myers.

2022 — SS Brooks Lee: He’s made an immediate impact since he debuted with the Twins on July 3. He opened his big-league career with 11 hits and eight RBI in his first six games.

2021 — RHP Chase Petty: Traded to Cincinnati for Sonny Gray before the 2022 season. Pitching at Class AAA, he’s rated as one of the Reds’ top prospects.

2020 — 1B Aaron Sabato: Playing at Class AA for the third straight year, he’s no longer ranked on Twins top prospect lists. He’s batting .240 with nine homers and 26 RBI in 48 games this season.

2019 — SS Keoni Cavaco: The Twins released him last month after he was hitting .144 in High-A. The Houston Astros signed him and are attempting to convert him to a pitcher.

2018 — OF Trevor Larnach: Providing league-average offensive production for the Twins this year with a .727 OPS. He has nine homers and 30 RBI in 59 games.

2017 — SS Royce Lewis: He’s been a superstar when he is healthy. He’s currently on the injured list with an adductor strain.