Kansas State Professional Athletes

Kansas State's most visible MLB alumnus hit a worrying milestone this week — not at the plate, but on the injury report.

Kaelen Culpepper, SS — Minnesota Twins

Rookie shortstop Kaelen Culpepper was pulled from Minnesota's lineup and sent for an MRI, casting a shadow over the Twins' final stretch of the 2026 season. The timing is brutal: Minnesota was already staring down a potential sweep at the hands of the Yankees when the news broke, with Culpepper's absence forcing the club to reconfigure without one of its emerging young contributors.

Culpepper had been hitting .275 heading into the week — a solid mark for a rookie navigating the pressures of a September pennant race. The MRI results will go a long way toward defining how K-State fans remember Culpepper's first full season in the bigs.

Carson Seymour, P — San Francisco Giants

On the West Coast, K-State righty Carson Seymour logged work out of the Giants bullpen across three appearances this week. The results were mixed. Seymour threw a clean inning on Monday against St. Louis, then was clipped for a rough two-thirds of an inning in a Wednesday appearance during San Francisco's 6–5 win over the Cardinals. He bounced back Saturday in a relief outing against the Dodgers, striking out two across a full inning pitched as the Giants dropped a 2–8 decision.

Seymour's ERA sits at 4.88 on the season — workable for a bullpen arm on a rebuilding club, but an indicator that he's still ironing out consistency at the big-league level. The volume of appearances late in the season suggests San Francisco sees him as part of the mix going forward.

The Bigger Picture

Culpepper's health is the headline. A .275 average from a rookie shortstop is a genuine foundation to build on, and the Twins will hope the MRI reveals nothing that threatens either the remainder of 2026 or his development trajectory into next year. For a Kansas State program that has quietly grown its MLB footprint, Culpepper represents one of the brightest near-term upside cases in the alumni ranks.

Seymour, meanwhile, is doing what young relievers do in September — pitching, learning, and trying to close out the year with enough momentum to earn a roster spot in spring. Three appearances in one week tells you the Giants trust him enough to give him real leverage situations, even if the results haven't always followed.

The rest of the K-State contingent — Will Brennan in San Francisco, Jordan Wicks in Chicago, Nick Goodwin in Toronto, and others — didn't generate significant statistical activity in the research window this week.

Kansas State's most prominent MLB export right now isn't a pitcher — it's a shortstop quietly making himself indispensable in a playoff race.

Kaelen Culpepper had the kind of week that earns lineup promotions. The Twins shortstop slashed his way through a busy stretch from Aug. 30–Sept. 5, accumulating hits in five of six games and closing the week batting .307 — a number that reflects sustained production, not a hot streak. By Saturday against the White Sox, he had been elevated to the No. 2 spot in Minnesota's lineup, a vote of confidence from a club with postseason ambitions.

The signature moment came Tuesday, Sept. 1, in a 15-2 demolition of the Detroit Tigers. While Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis traded three-run home runs to do the heavy lifting, Culpepper chipped in three RBIs of his own — a reminder that even in a blowout, his contributions were substantive. He also scored, going 2-for-the-day in what amounted to a complete offensive statement for the Twins.

The rest of the Tiger series was steady. Culpepper reached base via walk on Aug. 31 and scored, then scored again on Sept. 2 as Minnesota continued to pile on Detroit. Against the White Sox — he stayed hot across the weekend, logging hits Friday and two more hits with two runs scored on Saturday to close the week at .307.

The lineup elevation isn't a fluke. Culpepper has hit in the meat of Minnesota's order with the kind of plate discipline and contact rate that makes him a legitimate weapon, not just a defensive asset at shortstop. With the Twins surging, the K-State product is one of the reasons why.

Also Watching

San Francisco's Carson Seymour, a Giants reliever, made three appearances during the period with mixed results. He struck out two across 1.1 innings against Arizona on Aug. 30, then worked through back-to-back outings against Pittsburgh (combining for 2.1 innings, one earned run) before a rough Sept. 5 outing against the Mets that lasted just one out. His ERA settled at 4.43 heading into the final weeks of the season. Seymour remains part of San Francisco's bullpen mix, though his role appears situational.

The bigger story this week, by a wide margin, belongs to Culpepper. For K-State fans keeping an eye on the AL Central, there's a former Wildcat batting second for a team that looks very much like a postseason contender.

For the first time in recent memory, Kansas State has three alumni active in Major League Baseball simultaneously — and the week of Aug. 23–29 gave each of them a moment worth talking about.

Culpepper Is Raking

The headliner is Kaelen Culpepper, who is making a legitimate case to stay in the Twins' lineup. The shortstop batted .333 across the week's action, collecting hits in nearly every game and delivering two home runs — one Sunday against the Padres and another Thursday against the Athletics. He also drove in runs in four separate contests, capping the week Saturday against the White Sox with a hit and a walk. For a player who entered the season with questions about whether his bat could play at the big-league level, these are not small numbers.

Adams Debuts — and Survives the Rockies' Bullpen

The most significant off-field news of the week came Monday when Colorado selected the contract of Blake Adams, calling him up after placing starter Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list following Freeland's early exit against the Dodgers on Aug. 19. Adams wasted no time making his MLB debut, but it was a rough introduction: he allowed five earned runs in a single inning against the Nationals, leaving him with an eye-popping 45.00 ERA after one appearance. Debuts rarely go clean, and the circumstances — stepping into a depleted Rockies bullpen with no major-league seasoning — were about as unforgiving as it gets. Still, Adams is officially a big leaguer, and that's a fact no box score can take back.

Seymour Holds His Spot

While Culpepper grabbed headlines and Adams made history (his own, at least), Carson Seymour quietly did what Giants relievers are asked to do: eat innings. The right-hander appeared three times for San Francisco during the week, logging a full inning in each outing against the Reds (twice) and the Diamondbacks. He struck out two in his Tuesday appearance and one more Wednesday, though a rough Wednesday showing — one earned run allowed — nudged his ERA to 5.19 before he bounced back with a clean frame against Arizona. Seymour's ERA settled at 4.91 by week's end, a figure that keeps him on the roster bubble but in the conversation.

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Three K-State alums. Three MLB organizations. One wild week in Manhattan's distant outposts. Culpepper's bat is the most pressing story heading into September, but the picture of a Wildcat program producing this kind of simultaneous big-league representation is the real headline behind the headline.