Kala'i Rosario’s Hot Hitting Paces Twins Prospects in Week 3 of Arizona Fall League

[Steve Lein]

The third week of the prospect showcase season is finished out in the Arizona desert, and one of the Minnesota Twins' top hitting prospects keeps rolling.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge (photo of Kala'i Rosario)

Game Results:
Tuesday, 10/22 | Scottsdale 8, Salt River 6
Wednesday, 10/23 | Surprise 5, Salt River 6
Thursday, 10/24 | Glendale 9, Salt River 6
Friday, 10/25 | Salt River 7, Glendale 6
Saturday, 10/26 | Salt River 6, Peoria 7 (8 innings)

In their five games of the week, the Salt River Rafters finished with a 2-3 record. For the miniature season, they are 8-8 overall. This is good for fourth in the standings, and they sit three games behind the league-leading Surprise Saguaros. The Rafters offense was certainly consistent in their five games, as they scored six runs in four of them, and seven in the other. This mirrored one of the Twins' hitting prospects, who picked up at least one hit in each game and pushed his batting average to over .300 in the process. It was a mixed bag for the pitchers, but overall, their performance continues to be a bright spot for the Rafters out in the desert.

OF Kala’i Rosario
Week: 6-for-15, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, SB
Overall: .326/.389/.500
The slugging outfielder batted third or fourth in the Rafters order in each of his four games on the week, playing two games in left field, one in right, and DH in the other. He picked up a hit in each contest, though they were all singles, and also walked just as many times as he struck out.

In Tuesday’s loss to Scottsdale, Rosario drew a leadoff walk in the fourth inning but was left stranded. In the fifth, he struck out with the bases loaded, but a Twins teammate picked him up a little bit afterward. With a runner on third and the Rafters up 6-4 in the sixth, Rosario wasn’t able to get them a needed insurance run, again striking out to end the inning. An encouraging note, however, is that that would be his last punchout of the week. Down 8-6 after a two-run top of the ninth from Scottsdale, Rosario smoked a two-out ground-ball single at 107 MPH to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom half, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Rosario played a big role in Wednesday’s win over the Saguaros. Batting third as the DH, he reached base in all four of his plate appearances, taking one for the team with a hit-by-pitch in addition to three singles. With two outs and the game tied at three in the bottom of the fourth, Rosario’s single into center field brought in two runners to give the Rafters a 5-3 lead. He did end up getting caught at second base on a throw home to end the inning, however. In addition to the three hits and two RBI in this one, he also scored two runs.

On Friday the Rafters beat the Glendale Desert Dogs 7-6, and while Rosario didn’t factor much into the runs on the scoreboard, he did reach base in two of five trips to the plate. His walk in the third inning moved a runner into scoring position, and one batter later the Rafters went up 2-0. Leading off the top of the ninth inning, Rosario delivered an infield single and later stole third base, but that’s as far as he got before the Rafters held on to win.

In Salt River’s final game of the week on Saturday, Rosario again reached base two times, with one of those coming on a fielder’s choice grounder that unfortunately left a runner in no-man's land between third and home. Leading off the seventh with the score tied at 5-5, Rosario laced another grounder that the third baseman couldn’t handle to pick up his sixth single of the week. He moved to third on a double and put the Rafters up 6-5 by scoring on a grounder. This one went to “extra” innings to start the eighth, and the Javelinas won in walkoff fashion in the bottom half.

IF Ben Ross
Week: 2-for-14, 2 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K
Overall: .182/.345/.295
Ross also appeared in four games on the week, starting at shortstop in three of those contests and center field in the other. He batted in the fifth or sixth spot in the Rafters lineup in each game.

In Tuesday’s loss to Scottsdale, he did not get a walk or a hit, but his fielder’s choice gave him an RBI and tied the game as part of a five-run fifth inning. This at-bat came with the bases loaded and followed Rosario's strikeout. He also just missed on one in the seventh, sending a liner 400 feet to center field that was run down at the wall.

Playing center field on Wednesday, Ross finished 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. That walk came in the bottom of the first inning and loaded the bases for the Rafters. They would go up 2-0 after the sac fly that followed. He didn’t see much action in center, tallying just one putout and fielding one other hit, but it is a position he is not unfamiliar with, having started there 28 times this season with the Wichita Wind Surge.

Back at shortstop on Thursday, Ross picked up a hit and drew a walk in the Rafters' 9-6 loss to Glendale. His hit came in the bottom of the second inning, on a fastball clocked at 99.2 MPH from top pitching prospect Andrew Painter. He returned it to sender, right up the middle at 103 MPH for a line-drive single. His walk came in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with the score 9-0 in favor of Glendale, but a fly ball turned into a double play and they were unable to push a run across.

Ross capped his week with his best game on Saturday, scoring two runs and reaching base twice in Salt River’s loss to Peoria. His single in the fourth inning put runners on the corners and before it was over, Ross had crossed the plate for a 3-1 Salt River lead. Leading off the top of the sixth he drew a walk, and two batters later scored again to make 4-2. On defense, Ross also tallied an unassisted double play, snagging a liner and doubling up the runner at second base to end a threat against one of his fellow Twins pitchers.

IF Danny De Andrade
Week: Did not play.
The Venezuelan infielder hit .243/.333/.359 in 29 games with the Cedar Rapids Kernels before injuring his ankle back in May. He spent the rest of the season on the injured list and the hope was he would be able to make up a few at-bats in the Arizona Fall League, but that has yet to happen.

RHP Devin Kirby
Week: 1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (1 appearance)
Overall: 0-0, 6.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, .158 BAA, 7 BB, 4 K (6 IP)
Kirby’s lone appearance came in Thursday’s loss to Glendale with the score 5-0 Desert Dogs in the seventh inning. To say his knuckleball was doing a bit too much knuckling would be a bit of an understatement. He walked the first two hitters of the inning to make some trouble before picking up a strikeout. Then a single, wild pitch, walk, and double put Glendale up by eight. Another run would score on a groundout before he got the type of placement from his knuckler he wanted, getting the third out on a three-pitch strikeout. Twenty-four of his 36 pitches were knuckleballs on the day, and 13 of those went for called balls.

RHP Jack Noble
Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB (1 appearance)
Overall: 1-0, 1.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, .222 BAA, 4 BB, 6 K (6 IP)
Noble’s only appearance of the week was against the Desert Dogs on Friday, in the back half of a home-and-home scheduling quirk. He was the first reliever summoned after three scoreless innings from the Rafters starter. He was credited with a hold, as he delivered a scoreless inning with Salt River up 2-0. He issued a pair of walks but they were in between three fly outs. Of his 22 pitches, just 10 went for strikes. He continues to sit 93 MPH with his fastball, and his breaking stuff is a slush right now, in need of better definition and command to turn the corner.

LHP Kade Bragg
Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (1 appearance)
Overall: 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .111 BAA, 4 BB, 4 K (5 IP)
Bragg was tasked with the sixth inning in the Rafters' loss to Glendale on Thursday for his single pitching appearance of the week. The score was already 5-0, so all the lefthander wanted to do was keep any more runs off the scoreboard against the middle of the Desert Dogs lineup. He did that much better than any of the other three pitchers to that point, delivering a one-two-three outing and striking out one. The Rafters offense did put up six runs in the eighth inning to make this game interesting late, but it was not enough. Bragg has interesting secondaries, but as a soft-tosser who only scrapes 90 MPH, he'll have to show great command of them.

RHP Jacob King
Week: 2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 2 K (2 appearances)
Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.46 WHIP, .071 BAA, 1 BB, 3 K (4 1/3 IP)
King was the only Twins pitcher to see action in multiple games on the week, being credited with a hold in each appearance for his efforts.

On Tuesday against Scottsdale, he came in for the sixth inning with the score 5-4 Salt River. He gave up a one-out walk, but retired everyone else he faced, including striking out top-100 prospect Termarr Johnson of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization to end the frame.

His second appearance came in Saturday’s loss to Peoria in extra innings. He began the fourth inning with the score 3-1 in favor of Salt River and went one-two-three, with another strikeout to end the inning. Back out for the fifth, he got into a little bit of trouble after a one-out single and an error that led to a run for the Javelinas. He was lifted after that run scored, getting two of the three outs in the frame, but was also given a hold for his efforts as they came out of it with a one-run lead still intact. 

RHP Liam Rocha
Week: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K
Overall: 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, .280 BAA, 4 BB, 5 K (6 IP)
Rocha was called upon for the third inning of the Rafters' bullpen game against Peoria on Saturday. The game was tied 1-1, and would remain so after he was done. He gave up a leadoff walk, and an error from his defense led to having the bases loaded with just one out, but he got some help from Twins teammate Ben Ross, whose unassisted double play put an end to the threat and the inning. Rocha threw 25 pitches in his outing, with 12 of them going for strikes.

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the prospects playing in the AFL this week!

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[Doctor Wu]

I still have no idea who any of those pitchers are, but encouraging at least to see Rosario having a very good week. What's the story on De Andrade? Will he actually appear in any of the upcoming games?

[TopGunn#22]

This is puzzling.  Why would the Twins send De Andrade to Arizona if he wasn't completely healthy?  They hoped he would get a few at bats??  These spots are supposed to be prime.  An opportunity for a young prospect to show his stuff.

The pitchers are all all no-names.  TD does a great job of having weekly recaps on the farm system during the season.  Doc Wu and I are saying we have no clue who these pitchers are.  They've either thrown one inning or very little, so the guys running the show down there aren't impressed, and frankly, it's a rather unimpressive group.

I would have liked to see Emmanuel Rodriguez (seeing how he missed some time) or Walker Jenkins (seeing how he missed some time--Is he too young for the AZ. Fall League??) or Luke Keaschall, or the 6 foot 6 kid that mashed 3 HR's in one game who plays both SS & CF (can't recall his name, it happens to us Senior Citizens...it will come to me about 2pm today)!    :)  

It just seems like a really lackluster group of players from the Twins.  Maybe Rosario will play well enough that he would make a good trade chip this off season.  We seem to have a LOT of OF-types stacked ahead of him.  

[jmlease1]

16 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

This is puzzling.  Why would the Twins send De Andrade to Arizona if he wasn't completely healthy?  They hoped he would get a few at bats??  These spots are supposed to be prime.  An opportunity for a young prospect to show his stuff.

The pitchers are all all no-names.  TD does a great job of having weekly recaps on the farm system during the season.  Doc Wu and I are saying we have no clue who these pitchers are.  They've either thrown one inning or very little, so the guys running the show down there aren't impressed, and frankly, it's a rather unimpressive group.

I would have liked to see Emmanuel Rodriguez (seeing how he missed some time) or Walker Jenkins (seeing how he missed some time--Is he too young for the AZ. Fall League??) or Luke Keaschall, or the 6 foot 6 kid that mashed 3 HR's in one game who plays both SS & CF (can't recall his name, it happens to us Senior Citizens...it will come to me about 2pm today)!    :)  

It just seems like a really lackluster group of players from the Twins.  Maybe Rosario will play well enough that he would make a good trade chip this off season.  We seem to have a LOT of OF-types stacked ahead of him.  

I'm disappointed to not see de Andrade too, but he may have had a setback, it's hard to know. The other thing too is SS innings are usually at a premium in the AFL, so maybe it's been hard to fit him in as well? (the Twins don't have total control of the team)

Rodriguez is probably still getting well; he wasn't fully healthy at the end of the year and I'm sure they want to make certain he's right before putting him back on the field. Walker Jenkins is just coming out of A-ball and is super young, I'm sure they didn't feel the need to get him more ABs since he finished the season doing ok, even if he struggled in his cup of coffee at AA. Keaschall is still rehabbing from surgery, no way is he ready for the AFL.

Rosario is doing very well, and it's good to see him making plenty of contact. He's got a nice opportunity in front of him if he can take the next step.

ben Ross is not doing so well. He needed to come to the AFL and show he could hit, and so far he's not getting there. He's got a nice glove, but hasn't hit above A-ball and that trend is continuing in the AFL (and the pitching is generally a bit below AA standard). Not boding well for him. It's still a small sample, but...

[Otaknam]

The only names I recognize on this list are Rosario and De Andrade. I thought the AFL was for players almost major league ready, and just gave them a chance to fine tune some aspect of their game. But I don’t recognize any of the pitchers, and I pay pretty close attention to the Twins’ minors league system.  

[DJL44]

9 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

The only names I recognize on this list are Rosario and De Andrade. I thought the AFL was for players almost major league ready, and just gave them a chance to fine tune some aspect of their game. But I don’t recognize any of the pitchers, and I pay pretty close attention to the Twins’ minors league system.  

The AFL has become extended A-ball. There are very few actual pitching prospects. It's sort of a demotion for Double-A players like Rosario.

[LambchoP]

Nice to see Rosario hitting. Lots of singles though,some more power would be nice. Of course he's still young though. If his defense is at least average I can see him playing in St Paul this year. Twins could use some RH outfielders. We'll always need a backup center fielder as Buxton insurance. 

[Steve Lein]

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

This is puzzling.  Why would the Twins send De Andrade to Arizona if he wasn't completely healthy?  They hoped he would get a few at bats??  These spots are supposed to be prime.  An opportunity for a young prospect to show his stuff.

I wish I had an answer for you, but there is no chatter on anything going on with De Andrade I have been able to find. I do hope he is actually there and will get some play time eventually!

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I would have liked to see Emmanuel Rodriguez (seeing how he missed some time) or Walker Jenkins (seeing how he missed some time--Is he too young for the AZ. Fall League??) or Luke Keaschall, or the 6 foot 6 kid that mashed 3 HR's in one game who plays both SS & CF (can't recall his name, it happens to us Senior Citizens...it will come to me about 2pm today)!    :)   

You and me both. The Twins seem to be changing how they use the AFL, and it is no longer a place they will send top prospects, whether they had at-bats to make up or not. I think E-Rod and Jenkins were both the perfect candidates, even pitchers like Cory Lewis and C.J. Culpepper had cases to make up innings here. It's a disappointing change in approach, for sure if that is the case. It also could be something like they just didn't want to go.

And you're thinking of Brandon Winokur. He would have been an interesting choice as well!

[saviking]

Nice to see a right handed bat that plays outfield. 

[DocBauer]

8 hours ago, Otaknam said:

The only names I recognize on this list are Rosario and De Andrade. I thought the AFL was for players almost major league ready, and just gave them a chance to fine tune some aspect of their game. But I don’t recognize any of the pitchers, and I pay pretty close attention to the Twins’ minors league system.  

Bragg is a late round pick in 2023 and has been hurt. So he's getting in IP to make up for lost time for sure. I'm not 100% on this, but I believe the rest of the arms were all signed post draft or out of the Independent Leagues the past couple of years. Were I to speculate, I'd say they're being auditioned to work on some things and figure out where they slot in for 2025. 

For whatever reason the Twins, and it seems most teams, are holding back top prospects from the AFL these days in order to just work with "secondary" prospects to give them a little more time and opportunity. For the Twins more specifically, I think they "trust" their top pitchers just working at the complex in Ft Myers in the Instructional League. I guess that makes sense to me.

[DocBauer]

I'm glad to see Rosario get in the extra work at the AFL this year considering the time he missed. The fact that they're doing so tells me they remain high on him. Plus, they have to decide if he's going to be protected on the 40 man this year. It's kind of a double edged sword really. The extra time helps prepare him, hopefully, for 2025 even though the pitching is considered more A+ in the AFL these days, and less AA quality. But on the other hand, if he does well, it might make him more enticing for a team to draft him in the rule 5 and try to stash him. 

I'm still not 100% convinced the Twins protect him. From what I've read, the arm is OK, and he's not just a slow plodder, but he rates about average at best defensively. Could a team really afford to keep him all season on a ML roster? IDK. But maybe a team like the A's or Dirty Sox might take that chance.

I was glad to see Ross going to the AFL. He's athletic and versatile, but didn't hit well at all in 2024. I know it's SSS so far, but all he's done is prove he can take a walk so far. Not good.

If DeAndrade isn't going to be healthy enough to see some time in the AFL, then why is he there? Why not send someone like Schobel instead, a Ross-like clone, to see if he can ramp up his bat?

[Guest]

I used to enjoy going to AZ for the fall league, but the quality of players sent from all teams has been disappointing for the last few years. Not really a draw anymore.

[Trov]

I am not that big on Rosario, mainly because his K rate is just too high.  Yeah, he can hit the ball far when he makes contact but a 31% K rate across all his minor league and AZ fall league time from last year is very high.  Most guys do not tend to improve that as they move up but it generally gets worse. 

He may become a fringe MLB guy but there are just too many OF guys that I think will pass him by and more come each year. He does seem to have a knack for hitting lefties so there may be a platoon path in his future if his defense is at least average. 

[ashbury]

On 10/28/2024 at 5:20 PM, Verified Member said:

I used to enjoy going to AZ for the fall league, but the quality of players sent from all teams has been disappointing for the last few years. Not really a draw anymore.

Concur.  One has to enjoy the trip to Phoenix on its own terms, and then time your trip to take in a baseball game or two, and perhaps see the Twins' utility infielder or 6th inning reliever of the future. 😀

[ashbury]

On 10/28/2024 at 5:20 PM, Verified Member said:

I used to enjoy going to AZ for the fall league, but the quality of players sent from all teams has been disappointing for the last few years. Not really a draw anymore.

A followup:

This is what you used to get for your effort in getting to Phoenix.

 

[Elite Benchwarmer]

Today from Eric Longenhagen @ FanGraphs:

 

Ben Ross, Utilityman, Minnesota Twins (Salt River Rafters)
I know his numbers aren’t good, but superutilityman Ben Ross looks good, playing defense all over the field and showing surprising power for a hitter as lithe and skinny as he is. Ross “broke out” in 2023 with 19 bombs at High-A Cedar Rapids, but he struck out in roughly 30% of his 2024 plate appearances and posted a mere 78 wRC+ at Double-A Wichita. Ross struggles with secondary pitch recognition, but he’s very dangerous in the middle-up portions of the zone and his swing is surprisingly short considering how much power he has. He will probably always strike out too much to be an everyday player at a single position, but Ross’ ability to play a competent shortstop and center field (the latter is less certain, but regular season tape from Ross’ time there suggests it’s plausible) could soon make him a better, more impactful role-playing option than Austin Martin has been.

 

Hopefully, with a bit of adjustment/improvement/maturation with his bat, Ross can be a valuable utility player for the Twins!