FORT WORTH, Texas -- Ahead of the 2024 MLB Draft, Twins vice president of amateur scouting Sean Johnson had predicted a run on college hitters due to the relative lack of high school hitters in the class -- and the Twins themselves took part in that trend, selecting three college bats among their four picks on a busy first night.

In fact, their first three selections went to such players in Kansas State shortstop Kaelen Culpepper (No. 21), Louisiana-Lafayette shortstop Kyle DeBarge (No. 33) and Tennessee third baseman Billy Amick (No. 60) before they finally took high school left-hander Dasan Hill (No. 69) out of Grapevine High School in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The Twins seem to have found a type of hitter that they like in Culpepper and DeBarge, who both have disciplined, contact-heavy approaches with quick swings -- the type of profile with which their player development group has found success in the cases of players like Brooks Lee and Luke Keaschall.

¡°I can¡¯t speak for the industry if that¡¯s underrated or overrated, but it¡¯s something we certainly value,¡± Johnson said. ¡°It¡¯s very difficult for our player development to teach guys to swing at the right pitches and control the strike zone, so we usually lean into those types of performers, which we did again this year.¡±

The organization has taken such hitting profiles and added more power before -- consider Jose Miranda as a recent example -- and appear to be leaning into that approach after Johnson had noted ahead of the Draft that the Twins would be seeking more input from their player development group to supplement their scouting as part of their Draft process.

Culpepper and DeBarge both played shortstop most recently, but there¡¯s thought from evaluators that Culpepper in particular could be a better long-term fit at third base. Amick played first base and designated hitter at Clemson but moved to third base for Tennessee -- and Johnson said there¡¯s thought all three could remain infielders.

In that mold, too, the cohesion through the organization remained evident in how Johnson discussed the positional fits of those players: namely, that he didn¡¯t really discuss them, because the Twins care more about the bats and the athleticism, with the latter coming into play as part of the huge emphasis the organization has put on defensive versatility and roster flexibility, from manager Rocco Baldelli¡¯s usage at the top down to the lower levels.

¡°We thought [Culpepper] could hit, and so that¡¯s really the thing that drives our decisions, at least on night one,¡± Johnson said. ¡°We want to take players that we believe can hit and play multiple positions. It really is in line with how Rocco deploys his roster on a nightly basis. It¡¯s nice to give him potential pieces that can play around the diamond.¡±

Amick decidedly doesn¡¯t fit into the contact-oriented profile, though, as a burly corner-infield slugger who anchored the Tennessee lineup with 23 homers and a .306/.387/.639 line en route to a College World Series championship -- and that production came in the SEC, typically seen as the toughest conference in collegiate baseball.

Once the Twins got deep in the second round and saw Amick still on the board, that production was too tempting to pass up.

¡°You look at his numbers, underlying numbers beyond the stat sheet, and we just felt really good about his swing, his chance to be offensive,¡± Johnson said. ¡°We¡¯re really glad he was still on the board at 60.¡±

The fixation around college position players is nothing new for this Twins front office; the direction they took at No. 69 was perhaps less typical for them, where they took Hill -- a high school arm -- on the strong recommendation of area scout Trevor Brown, who had extensively scouted the left-hander as he bulked up and touched 96 mph with his fastball this year.

As a whole, the Twins¡¯ Draft room knew they were in for a long night, Johnson said, but largely stuck to the players they knew well and to their plan of attack -- and were thrilled with the results.

¡°All four players we took tonight, we really loved,¡± Johnson said. ¡°That always feels good on the front end. Yeah, it couldn't have gone much better from what we thought we were going to get out of the night and what we ended up with. That's a rare feeling most of the time. Whenever that happens, we'll take it.¡±