Kaelen Culpepper

Kaelen Kenneth Culpepper (born December 29, 2002) is an American college baseball infielder for the Kansas State Wildcats. On July 14, 2024, Culpepper was drafted by the Minnesota Twins with the twenty-first pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Career
Culpepper attended Saint Benedict at Auburndale in Cordova, Tennessee. As a senior, he hit .394 with six home runs, 30 runs batted in (RBI) and 13 stolen bases. He committed to Kansas State University to play college baseball.

Prior to his freshman season at Kansas State, he played for the Norwich Sea Unicorns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in 2021. As a freshman in 2022, he started 48 of 51 games at third base and hit .283/.356/.428 with five home runs and 22 RBI. After the season he played for the Bluefield Ridge Runners. As a sophomore in 2023, Culpepper started 40 games, hitting .325/.423/.576 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI. After the season, he played for the United States national baseball team and in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Harwich Mariners.

Culpepper entered his junior season as a top prospect for the 2024 Major League Baseball draft. He moved from third base to shortstop.