St. Paul – The Minnesota Twins are still figuring out their bullpen options for the long term, and they are moving some of their former starter prospects into relief roles. Some players were already on that path as early as this spring: Marco Raya and C.J. Culpepper, the St. Paul Saints’ latest call-up.
Minnesota took Culpepper, 24, in the 13th round of the 2022 draft, and he made his full-season debut in 2023.
His first year in the Twins system was solid. Culpepper made 21 starts and pitched to a 3.56 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .227 opponents’ batting average, struck out 89 batters, and walked 31 over 86 innings pitched. It was a good baseline to work from. However, he has suffered multiple injuries over the past two years.
In 2024, a right forearm strain that kept him limited to 16 outings and only 58 ⅓ innings pitched. In 2025, an undisclosed injury limited Culpepper to 17 starts and 59 ⅓ innings. This year was the first season in a long time where Culpepper had a clean bill of health and didn’t have to worry about any injury setbacks in spring training.
“It’s been huge being able to have a full spring training by staying healthy,” Culpepper said. “Just being able to get actual work done, not having to worry about injuries or anything, have a great training staff with the coaches here being able to help me get through it.”
Even as a starter, C.J. Culpepper has had a limited workload. That made a transition to the bullpen seem like an easy solution for the Twins, not only for his health but also for his success on the mound. He started the season on the ‘Travis Adams plan,’ pitching four innings every four days for the Wind Surge.
“That’s always tough for pitchers to get in that rhythm, but I think he’s done a great job since getting called up last week of establishing a new role,” said Saints catcher Noah Cardenas regarding Culpepper. “Because he was starting in Wichita, and out of the pen, and doesn’t know when he’s going to pitch. He’s done a great job of settling into that role and attacking the strike zone, which we need out of him.”
In six outings with Wichita, Culpepper pitched to a 3.22 ERA, .212 opponents’ average, struck out 26, and walked 10 over 22 ⅓ innings. The Twins have recently called up multiple starters to bolster their rotation, and Culpepper earned his first call-up to Triple-A St. Paul on May 5.
His workload has shrunk a bit since he got called up to the Saints, pitching no more than 2 ⅔ innings in his first five outings with them. Culpepper’s results also haven’t been as strong as they were in Wichita. He owns a 6.00 ERA in six innings of work, giving up five hits, four walks, and striking out five.
However, C.J. Culpepper is facing significantly more major league-ready hitters at Triple-A, so the adjustment period at the new level isn’t something too concerning for Culpepper or his coaches.
“His first couple of outings last week in Vegas were really good,” said Saints manager Brian Dinkelman last Thursday. “He held his velo decent in that. Looks good out of the pen, had a tougher one last night, but we’re excited for him to be out of the bullpen and be able to use his arsenal a little more often out of the bullpen role.”
“It’s been good so far,” said Culpepper. “It’s a new role, new opportunity, so just trying to get used to everything, but I’m enjoying it so far and have a lot of great guys here to talk to about it.”
C.J. Culpepper has been feeling good about his stuff all season. His fastball velo is right where he wants it, averaging around 93.8 MPH, and his sinker and slider are good complementary pitches to attack hitters. But what may be flying under the radar with what makes Culpepper so good this season is how his pitches move against hitters.
“I think everything he throws moves,” said Cardenas. “It’s kind of like Funderburk; it’s one of those things, like as a catcher, you don’t really love to catch him because everything moves so much, and as a hitter, it can’t be fun. So I think the underrated thing is he spins the ball really well, and I think that part is fun as a catcher because really there’s no pitch that’s off limits to either side, which is really cool.”
“Everything has been trending upwards; it’s a lot better than it was last year,” Culpepper said. “Goes back to the work that was put in during spring training, and yeah, it’s been good and now just trying to maintain it.”
