Kansas State Professional Athletes

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.

Kaelen Culpepper was a fringe name on the Minnesota Twins' roster conversation heading into mid-August. Five games later, the Kansas State product has given the organization something worth paying attention to.

The shortstop entered the week batting .250 — serviceable, nothing more. But Culpepper strung together a run that quietly turned heads: a hit and a walk against the Phillies on Sunday, another hit in Monday's series opener against Atlanta, and then a three-hit, one-run performance against the Braves on Wednesday that spiked his average to .314 on the night. By Saturday against the Padres, the dust had settled at .289 — a 39-point climb in five games. That's not a fluke line. That's a player finding something.

The Braves series appears to have been the inflection point. Culpepper recorded four hits across two games against the Braves, suggesting the hot stretch wasn't simply a product of weak competition. Whether Minnesota rides that momentum or keeps him in a reserve role remains to be seen, but the résumé just got a lot more interesting.

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Seymour Logs Reps in Relief for San Francisco

On the other side of the country, Carson Seymour continued to work out of the Giants bullpen. The K-State righty appeared in back-to-back series this week, tossing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts against the Guardians on Thursday before returning for 1.1 innings against the Red Sox on Saturday. His ERA sits at 5.28 — a number that reflects a reliever still working to establish himself at the big-league level, but one who is clearly in San Francisco's active bullpen mix. The consistent appearances suggest the Giants are giving Seymour extended looks rather than spot usage, which is meaningful context for a pitcher at this stage of his career.

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The Bigger Picture

Kansas State's MLB footprint is real and growing. Between Culpepper's bat coming alive in Minnesota and Seymour logging innings weekly in San Francisco, the Wildcats have representation on both coasts — and in meaningful situations, not just roster depth. For a program not historically associated with MLB pipeline production, the week of August 16–22 offered a notable snapshot of how far the K-State baseball brand has traveled.

Culpepper's story is the one to watch. A .289 average with upward momentum gives him a case to make in the final stretch of the season. Manhattan, Kansas will be paying attention.

Kansas State in MLB | Aug. 2–8, 2026

The biggest story out of Manhattan this week had nothing to do with the Little Apple — it played out in Milwaukee, where Kansas State shortstop Kaelen Culpepper made the kind of MLB debut that prospects dream about.

Culpepper Announces Himself in a Big Way

Minnesota called up Culpepper, their No. 2 prospect, on Friday as the Twins pressed forward in a crowded AL playoff race. He wasted no time justifying the promotion. In his very first big-league game against the Brewers on August 7, Culpepper went deep — a solo home shot that helped Minnesota claw back for an 8-6 victory. Josh Bell added a two-run blast in the same game, but it was the rookie out of Kansas State who stole the headline.

Culpepper carried a .250 average out of his debut, and followed it up the next night with another plate appearance that showed patience — drawing a walk and scoring a run as the Twins continued to battle Milwaukee. Per reporting ahead of the call-up, he had notably improved his defense this season, making him a legitimate two-way contributor rather than a bat-only prospect. The Twins aren't just giving a kid a cup of coffee; they're leaning on him during a playoff push against, by some measures, baseball's best team.

The Yahoo Sports game preview from August 8 put it bluntly, calling Culpepper an "unstoppable rookie" and the Twins' "latest weapon." That's rare language for a player with fewer than 72 hours in the majors — but the debut earned it.

Seymour Grinding Through a Tough Stretch

On the other side of the ledger, Carson Seymour (K-State, Giants) has had a bumpy couple of weeks out of San Francisco's bullpen. The right-hander gave up one earned run in 2.2 innings against the Rangers on August 5, striking out two and posting a 10.29 ERA on the outing. He was back at it again on Saturday against the Tigers — another two innings, another earned run — leaving his ERA at 9.00 for that appearance.

Seymour is clearly working through some struggles in his big-league role, but the fact that the Giants keep running him out there suggests the organization still sees something worth developing. Relief ERA can be volatile in small samples; the strikeout punch he flashed against Texas is the kind of trait that keeps a pitcher in the conversation.

The Rest of the K-State Contingent

The research brief lists a handful of other Wildcats active across the majors — Will Brennan (Giants), Brendan Jones (Marlins), Zach Kokoska (Rockies), Nick Martini (Rockies), Wesley Moore (Phillies), Tyson Neighbors (Orioles), and Jordan Wicks (Cubs) — though none generated notable statistical activity or news coverage during this particular week.

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The week belonged to Culpepper, and it wasn't close. A debut home run in the middle of a playoff race, for a franchise counting on you — that's the kind of moment K-State fans will be telling for a long time.