As Twins Tear Down MLB Team, Prospect Duo Shines In Double-A

Plus: Ranking every prospect traded at the deadline, plus scouting reports from all the deals.

Author

Mark Chiarelli
August 01, 2025

The BAPR is a free daily morning newsletter. Please consider help spreading the word by forwarding to your friends and helping us grow the Baseball America community!

Kaelen Culpepper & Walker Jenkins, Twins: As the Twins finished a series of trades that parted with 10 players from their 26-man roster at the July 31 deadline, a pair of the organization's first-round picks enjoyed a big day. In a doubleheader at Amarillo, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper went 5-for-7 with a home run, a double, a stolen base and four RBIs for Double-A Wichita. Center fielder Walker Jenkins added a 4-for-6 day with a home run, a double, a stolen base and a walk across two seven-inning games. Taken with back-to-back top picks in 2023 and 2024, Jenkins and Culpepper have both surged in July. Jenkins owns a .920 OPS for the month, while Culpepper leads the way with a 1.064 mark.

Brandon Sproat, RHP, Mets: Sproat tossed five shutout innings at Buffalo on Thursday striking out nine, walking three and allowing three hits. It caps a five-start stretch in July that saw him record a 0.67 ERA over 27 innings. Going back to his final start of June, Sproat has gone 3-0 with a 0.55 ERA in six starts while striking out 39, walking 11 and allowing 16 hits—including no home runs—in 33 innings. That six-start stretch completely turned his season around. Before it began, he had run up a 5.95 ERA in 62 innings for Syracuse on the season.

Luis Morales, RHP, Athletics: When the Athletics signed Morales out of Cuba in 2023, he quickly climbed the system, debuting in the Dominican Summer League and finishing that year at High-A Lansing. Two years later, he’s completed the ascent. Morales was called up to Sacramento after the trade deadline passed on July 31. The 22-year-old has handled tough pitching environments in Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas well this season, posting a 3.73 ERA over 89.1 innings with 107 strikeouts, 35 walks and 10 home runs allowed. Though developed as a starter, Morales transitioned to a relief role in Las Vegas over the past month and could fill a similar spot in the A’s bullpen.

Luis De La Torre, LHP, Giants: The Giants are oozing with talent in Low-A, especially after several recent arrivals in San Jose following a successful Arizona Complex League. De La Torre is one such example. After striking out 62 batters in 38.2 innings in the ACL, De La Torre has kept the good times rolling in full-season ball, and on Thursday spun a five-inning, seven-strikeout scoreless start against Stockton. He has now thrown 14 consecutive shutout innings with 19 strikeouts to just three walks to begin his time in Low-A. De La Torre's combination of a unique fastball angle from the left side and a plus potential slider has given hitters fits so far and helped him jump onto the Giants' Top 30 Prospects. San Jose should be one of the most exciting teams to watch in the minors over the remainder of the regular season.

Ranking Every Prospect Traded At The Deadline

The dust has settled on one of the most significant trade deadlines in years. And while the Padres dealing the fifth-best prospect in the game, Leo De Vries, is the headliner, more than 90 prospects traded organizations by 6 p.m. ET yesterday. We’ve ranked them all here, with J.J. Cooper tiering them based on their skill level across the minors and offering insights into how the pieces all fit together.

MLB Trade Deadline Tracker

Yesterday’s deadline closed with a fervor, so we don’t blame you if you’re still sifting through all the deals that went down. We’re here to help. No matter how big or small, if a prospect traded teams yesterday, we added it to our trade deadline tracker, which you can see below.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

In Case You Missed It