Less than 24 hours removed from an emotional call-up, the young shortstop made his first big-league impact.
Kaelen Culpepper's first 24 hours as a Major Leaguer had just about everything you could expect from a player finally getting the call. Tears in a Triple-A clubhouse, a frantic trip to Milwaukee, a sellout crowd and, eventually, a bucket of mustard and baby powder waiting for him after the game.
Somehow, the part that looked the most overwhelming was also the part where Culpepper seemed most comfortable.
His first career hit for the Minnesota Twins came in his second at-bat Friday night, and it came after he fell behind Milwaukee left-hander Shane Drohan 0-2. Rather than allowing the count to speed him up, Culpepper went back to the approach that had carried him through Triple-A and into the Twins' plans.
“I mean, I'm just sticking to my approach,” Culpepper said postgame on Twins TV. “Not really letting what happened early in that at-bat dictate what was gonna be the outcome. So I just, you know, trusting myself, trusting my eyes.”
That turned into a 390-foot home run to left-center field, cutting Milwaukee's lead to 4-3 and giving Minnesota the spark it needed during an eventual 8-6 comeback victory.
The moment was certainly big. The way Culpepper handled it may have been even more encouraging.
While showering with Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday, Culpepper was called into manager Brian Dinkelman's office, where he found a group of coaches and coordinators waiting for him. He immediately realized why.
“I got pretty emotional,” Culpepper said, via MLB.com’s Zach Sweet. “I started crying.”
Less than a day later, he was standing in front of 42,118 people at American Family Field for his first Major League game.
His first at-bat ended with a popout. Instead of dwelling on it, Culpepper said getting that first plate appearance out of the way helped him settle in.
“After that, just like, ‘All right, now I'm here. Let's go,’” Culpepper said, via Sweet.
That mindset became particularly useful when he fell behind in the count during his next opportunity. Culpepper said he was looking for something firm, trusted what he saw and got the fastball he wanted. The result was a 100.2-mph line-drive home run, and suddenly the player who had been crying in a Triple-A clubhouse the night before was being mobbed by his new teammates.
Manager Derek Shelton noted that the celebration inside the dugout was genuine. Every player in the room, he explained, remembers the strange combination of nerves and excitement that comes with a first Major League game.
“The one thing I was really pleased at is sometimes a guy hits his first career homer, and everybody ignores him,” Shelton said, via Twins TV. “The celebration in our dugout was genuine. It was palpable. It was really cool.”
It also came at a useful time for Minnesota.
The Twins had entered the night having scored three runs or fewer in 11 of their first 19 games since the All-Star break before falling behind Milwaukee 4-0. Culpepper's homer started pulling them back into the game, and Minnesota eventually completed the comeback against the National League-leading Brewers.
There were still reminders that Culpepper is a 23-year-old making his first appearance at this level. He made a throwing decision in the fifth inning that allowed an infield single to extend the inning, something he acknowledged afterward as part of the learning process.
But that may be the most telling part of his debut.
Culpepper didn't walk away from Milwaukee believing he had figured everything out. He walked away knowing there was plenty to improve, while also knowing the moment he had spent years waiting for was finally behind him.
“I just want more of those for sure,” Culpepper said. “I love that feeling.”
After everything that happened over those first 24 hours, perhaps the most important development for Minnesota was how quickly Culpepper went from trying to process the moment to simply playing baseball.
