The young outfield duo have been limited during Spring Training because each has an ankle sprain. Once healthy, Jenkins and Rodríguez make for formidable prospects for the Twins.

The minor-league season starts next week. Do you know where to find top Twins prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodríguez?

The Twins pumped the brakes this spring on both outfielders because they been working through ankle sprains. The future remains bright for Jenkins and Rodríguez; it’s just the present that has been put on hold.

Jenkins, the No. 1 Twins and No. 5 overall prospect at Baseball America, appears to be itching to play in minor-league spring games.

However, he has been limited ever since injuring his left ankle performing a jumping drill around March 1.

Jenkins’ injury isn’t considered a long-term problem; not at all.

But high ankle sprains take longer to heal than lower ones, and the delay has been enough to push back the start of his season.

Jenkins, a 20-year-old who likely is ticketed for Class AA Wichita, said in a video interview published Wednesday on MLB’s website that he is “almost back and good to go” after nearly three weeks of resting and ramping up.

“I jumped to rob a home run and came down a little funny on it, but we’re good to go,” Jenkins said. “I have a hard time turning off that switch.”

Rodríguez told reporter Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune that he is eager to show everyone what he can do, considering injuries have kept him off the field in each of his four pro seasons since 2021.

Rodríguez, the No. 19 overall prospect by Baseball America and considered top 50 by a consensus, was sidelined starting in mid-February after spraining his left ankle in similar fashion to Jenkins.

Only recently has he started hitting in batting cages, Nightengale said. Rodríguez will start the season playing for Triple-A St. Paul once he’s ready.

“I haven’t even showed half of what Emmanuel Rodríguez can do,” the 22-year-old center fielder said in Spanish. “My goal is to play more games, to play a full season healthy, and that’s where I’m going to show what Emmanuel can do.”

Rodríguez has averaged 64 games per season over the past three years be because of injuries.

After the 2024 season, Rodríguez needed surgery on his right thumb, which Twins president Derek Falvey called “a cleanup procedure.”

Jenkins has an injury history too; he strained his left hamstring on Opening Day in 2024 and missed two months.

The injury was said to affect his performance too. At 19, Jenkins produced a .282/.394/.439 slash line in a season that ended in Double-A. Great results, but Jenkins thinks he can do better. Learning the early lessons of pro ball will help him, Jenkins says.

“Learning how long the season is, learning how to manage everything when it comes to swings, throwing, your body,” Jenkins told MLB. “

And it’s just nice having some experience now, coming into your second spring training, knowing how things work, knowing how the season works. It’s just kind of a learning and growing process.”

Jenkins has drawn comparisons to Hall of Fame slugger Larry Walker, and it’s not just “because his first name is Walker,” baseball analyst Keith Law said on the Locked on Twins Podcast.

“Jenkins is also a tall, athletic, and very strong left-handed-hitting corner outfielder, and he’s advanced quickly through the low minors when healthy by showing exceptional swing decisions,” Law wrote in The Athletic. “He seldom swings and misses (just 17.5% last year) and doesn’t chase pitches out of the zone very often (24.6%), unusual for a hitter of his size and power potential.”

Rodríguez’s big skill combo is power and patience.

Starting the season as the seventh-youngest player in the Texas League, Rodríguez in 37 games at Class AA hit .298 with a .479 on-base percentage to go with eight home runs, 12 doubles, 40 runs scored and nine stolen bases.

Sometimes, his patience can give way, almost, to passivity. Twins fans are familiar with this because of Edouard Julien.

Rodríguez can work his way into too many two-strike counts.

He also swings and misses at a lot of strikes. But, as Nightengale points out, he hits the ball so hard that some individual teams consider Rodríguez one of the five best prospects in the game.

The Twins are excited about seeing both of these players on the field. It’s simply, or not so simply, a matter of getting them healthy enough to get on the field and stay there. No more braking. Let’s get into gear.