SEATTLE – About 20 minutes after Walker Jenkins celebrated his selection in the MLB Draft with his family, he hopped over to his town's watch party and began signing autographs for children.
There were more than 50 people in a local church from the small beach community who erupted when the Twins took Jenkins with the No. 5 overall pick. Jenkins taped a short video thanking them for their support as he watched the draft with his family, then immediately joined them afterward.
"The Twins organization and community is not just getting a great baseball player, but a great person," said Mike Anderson, who coached Jenkins for two seasons at South Brunswick High School. "He is going to give as much as he puts into the game into the community."
Jenkins, the player, was widely considered one of the top two high school prospects in this year's draft class. Listed at 6-3, 205 pounds, the lefthanded batter stands out with his ability to hit for power with such a compact swing.
Most members of the Twins' scouting department began watching Jenkins two years ago at a high school showcase in Hoover, Alabama. Several former Twins players, including Michael Cuddyer, Denny Hocking, LaTroy Hawkins and Doug Mientkiewicz, are coaches with Team USA on the national youth baseball circuit and vouched for Jenkins.
"That was a guy you saw play for a few days and you're like, 'That's going to be the guy in a couple of years,' " said Sean Johnson, the Twins' amateur scouting director. "He really stood out. Physically advanced, had a great swing, has all five tools and it's a guy that you're excited to be able to draft but you're thinking, 'He's going to go towards the top,' and we never want to be picking up this high."
Jenkins' nickname among the Team USA coaches was "Captain America" because of his leadership style. It even stood out in a setting when he was surrounded by the other top high school players in the country.
Charlee Soto, a Florida high school pitcher who the Twins took with their second pick at No. 34 overall, remembered when Jenkins broke his hamate at a national showcase last summer. One day after the injury, Soto said, Jenkins chose to return to the dugout to cheer on his showcase teammates.
"Anyone that played with Walker Jenkins over the last few years, if you ask them their favorite teammates, he's one of the first names they mention," Johnson said.
In South Brunswick, Jenkins is known as the humble hometown star. He passed on chances to play at high-profile baseball academies to help his draft stock, telling one coach at a rival high school that he wouldn't leave his friends for that.
Jenkins took online classes throughout high school, so there were days when he was done with his daily schedule before school let out. When he had free time, he often joined a fourth-period weight training class that was populated with many members of the football team.
"Walker would be out there before even our practice had begun, working on his speed, agility and things out there with them or on his own," Anderson said. "He's built a little different than most 17- or 18-year-old kids."
As much as Jenkins has a humble personality off the field — "He's a 'yes, sir' and 'no, sir' guy," Anderson said — he is as competitive as anybody. He told North Carolina reporters he wants to prove the teams that drafted ahead of the Twins made a mistake by not picking him.
Anderson remembers a lot of spirited batting practice sessions between Jenkins and one of his junior year teammates who was committed to Eastern Carolina University.
"It was always fun," Anderson said, "to see who was going to hit the most out. Of course, just about every time, it would end up being Walker. Not only hitting them out, but how far they were going to go out. The softball was off back behind us and there were several times we had to yell over there, 'Incoming!' "
Baseball America rated Jenkins as the top prospect in the Twins farm system, assuming he signs before the July 25 deadline, and No. 19 overall. The Twins envision him as an impact middle-of-the-order hitter who will likely begin his pro career in center field.
"He's just going to do everything in his power not to fail," Anderson said. "People in Minnesota are going to absolutely love him."
