Twins Prospects Kala'i Rosario, Ben Ross Help Salt River Claim Arizona Fall League Title

[Steve Lein]

Both Minnesota Twins hitters ended their Arizona Fall League campaigns with impressive hitting streaks, and those culminated with a battle for the AFL Championship on Saturday.

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

Game Results:
Monday, 11/11 | Peoria 1, Salt River 7
Tuesday, 11/12 | Salt River 13, Peoria 10
Wednesday, 11/13 | Salt River 5, Surprise 8
Thursday, 11/14 | Surprise 10, Salt River 2

The Salt River Rafters entered Week 6 as one of five teams still vying for a place in the Arizona Fall League playoffs. They took care of the bottom-feeding Peoria Javelinas in the first two games of the week, but closed it out with two losses against the league-leading Surprise Saguaros. The 2-2 regular season finish put Salt River in a three-way tie at 16-14 overall, but because of tie-breakers, they were given one of the two spots in the Wild Card semifinal game. Could St. Paul Saints coach and Rafters manager Tyler Smarslok push his team into the title game, and perhaps an AFL championship? 

OF Kala’i Rosario
Week: 4-for-15, 4 R, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K, SB (4 games)
Overall: .291/.383/.430
Rosario finished his 2024 AFL season by extending his hitting streak to nine games to close it out. That includes a couple of games to be recapped later, but he did make starts in two of the Rafters four games before the playoffs.

On Tuesday against Peoria, Rosario played in left field and batted fifth in the lineup. After the first two hitters of the game were outs, the Rafters plated eight runs for an early blowout lead. Rosario drew a walk to load the bases before any of those had been scored, and came all the way home on a bases-clearing double. In the second inning, Rosario reached on an error, but was promptly picked off of first base. Leading off the sixth inning, he sent a single into center field to keep his hitting streak alive.

He was back in right field in Thursday’s 10-2 loss to Surprise, batting third in the lineup. The Rafters didn’t score any runs until the eighth inning, but Rosario was part of that. With a runner on second base, his single into center field brought home their first run of the game to make it 8-1. He later scored their second run from third, on a single from teammate Kristian Robinson.

While Rosario didn’t display the same type of power that he did last year in the AFL, when he led the league in home runs (tied with Aaron Sabato), he finished this year with basically the same OPS. That was driven by a much better batting average and on-base percentage this time around, while he also struck out at a lesser pace. While I think he’s back in Wichita for the start of the season, expect Rosario at CHS Field at some point in 2025.

IF Ben Ross
Week: 5-for-14, 3 R, 4 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, SB (4 games)
Overall: .280/.390/.427
While Rosario got the better of Ross with a nine-game hitting streak to close his season, Ross also ran a streak of his own up to eight games, continuing his solid play from the week before.

In Monday’s win over Peoria, Ross played shortstop and batted eighth in the Salt River lineup. With the score 5-0 Rafters in the third, Ross brought in their second run of the inning with an RBI single before being stranded on third base. He drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth and, two batters later, scored their seventh run of the game on a sac fly. 

He was back at shortstop on Wednesday, batting seventh in the lineup in a loss to the Saguaros. He clubbed a double in the second inning, and later stole home on a double-steal for an early 3-0 Rafters lead. That lead disappeared quickly in the bottom half of that inning, but Ross wasn’t done. He added another double in the eighth inning, but was left stranded as all other three hitters struck out around him.

Ross finished his AFL season with a flourish, besting Rosario in the OPS category behind five doubles, two triples, and a home run to go along with 15 walks in 24 games. He’s likely back in Wichita to start next season, but if his bat comes around like this he could be in triple-A sometime during the summer.

Before I forget, that two-double effort also wasn’t Ross’s final appearance of the AFL regular season, as he came into the game in the ninth inning on Thursday against Peoria.

As the pitcher. 

He walked the first man he faced, but induced a double-play ball to the next hitter on a 69 MPH pitch. Unfortunately he wouldn’t get out unscathed after that, as a walk and three singles allowed two more runs to score before he got the final out. I’ll note he did top out at 84 MPH on the radar gun (with a “cutter”), while most of his other pitches were tracked as a curveball around 70 MPH.

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 and spending the rest of the season on the injured list. He was added to the Twins AFL roster in the hope he would be able to make up a few at-bats, but unfortunately that did not materialize.

RHP Devin Kirby
Week: 3 1/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K (2 appearances)
Overall: 1-0, 9.53 ERA, 2.12 WHIP, .262 BAA, 13 BB, 8 K (11 1/3 IP)
The knuckleballer made an appearance in one of the four regular season games on the week, pitching multiple innings against the Javelinas on Tuesday. He entered the game in the middle of the fourth inning after Peoria had closed the Salt River lead to within three. With a runner on third base, Kirby got his man with a swinging strikeout to get his team back in the dugout. In a scoreless fifth inning, he worked around a one-out walk by retiring all three other hitters he faced. Back out for more in the sixth, the Javelinas finally figured out his knuckleball. A leadoff walk was followed by a home run to make the score 11-1 Rafters. A single, double, and hit batter then loaded the bases before he got a double-play ball for the first two outs, but another run scored. A fourth run would cross the plate on a single before Kirby got out of it with his second strikeout of the outing. In all, he was charged with four earned runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out two in 2 1/3 innings.

His second appearance of the week came against Scottsdale in the semifinal game, which we will get to shortly. 

Kirby pitched for the FCL Twins and Fort Myers during the 2024 season, and it will be interesting to follow his knuckleball moving forward. Obviously there is work to be done on that end, but I am looking forward to it.

RHP Jack Noble
Week: Did not pitch
Overall: 1-1, 5.56 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, .282 BAA, 7 BB, 10 K (11 1/3 IP)
The right-hander out of Long Beach State pitched himself into the Fall Stars game last week with his overall body of work, but did not make an appearance in any games to close out the AFL season. Except for one blip, where he allowed five earned runs while recording just one out, Noble was solid in his 11 other innings. In those other seven appearances he gave up just two earned runs on eight hits, while walking six and striking out nine.

LHP Kade Bragg
Week: 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (1 appearance)
Overall: 2-1, 7.24 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, .180 BAA, 13 BB, 13 K (13 2/3 IP)
Bragg received the starting nod in Tuesday’s high-scoring win over Peoria. He was even credited with a win after pitching just the first 1 2/3 innings, as the Rafters lineup batted around in the top of the first to jump out to 8-0 lead before he ever took the mound. He struck out two in a scoreless first, allowing just a single to the Javelina’s number three hitter. Back out for the second he ran into trouble immediately. After a leadoff walk he got a flyout, but then a single and another walk loaded the bases. Such is the luck of Twins pitchers the last two weeks, he then served up a grand slam to make the game 8-4. He’d get one more out before another walk and a plunking ended his day. One of those runners came around to score after his exit to account for the five runs given up.

Overall the left-hander had mixed results in AFL play. He showed an ability to miss some bats at times, but also the strike zone. The biggest thing to take away from the AFL for Bragg however, is that he got some innings in after throwing less than 10 total for Fort Myers this season. It was also a bit of a step up in competition, so the results shouldn’t be held against him through that lens.

RHP Jacob King
Week: 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (1 appearance)
Overall: 0-1, 7.71 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, .333 BAA, 6 BB, 10 K (9 1/3 IP)
King finished his AFL season with one appearance in the Rafters' loss to Surprise on Thursday. He came on to start the seventh inning with the score already 6-0 in the Saguaros favor. He struck out the first man he faced, but a pair of doubles followed to allow a single run. He finished off the inning by bookending a walk with a pair of strikeouts. Back out for the eighth he walked the leadoff man and allowed another RBI double before getting a grounder and a strikeout to end his outing. 

Like the other Twins pitchers, King gave up some good contact and walks, but missed a bunch of bats as well in AFL play. So far in his career King has only pitched 2 1/3 innings in the rookie leagues, so getting on the mound against the solid competition of the AFL should be a great learning experience moving forward.

RHP Liam Rocha
Week: 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 3 K (1 appearance)
Overall: 1-0, 4.26 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, .250 BAA, 9 BB, 12 K (12 2/3 IP)
Rocha also had just one appearance in the final week of the AFL schedule, pitching multiple innings in Wednesday’s tilt with the Saguaros. The Rafter’s starting pitcher got into a bunch of trouble in the second inning, and it was Rocha who was brought in to stop the bleeding. After a two-RBI triple made the score 7-2, Rocha entered the game with two outs and got a strikeout to escape further damage. He also struck out the leadoff man in the third, and worked around a two-out single for a scoreless inning. A leadoff walk in the forth came back to bite him, as a stolen base and RBI single pushed a run across for Surprise, but a double-play ball put an end to the inning, and his AFL season.

Along with King, Rocha has only appeared in the rookie leagues to this point, so expecting dominance should not have been the goal. He added some innings against quality competition to his overall ledger, and should make the jump to the Fort Myers bullpen in 2025.

AFL Wild Card Semifinal Game
Salt River 13, Scottsdale 4
Box Score
As mentioned at the start of this article, the Salt River Rafters made it into the AFL playoffs thanks to their 16-14 record. They got to face off against the Scottsdale Scorpions in the wild card semifinal on Friday as the visiting team. They took little time to get going, putting up six runs in the first two innings for a big early lead they would never give up.

Kala’i Rosario batted third in the lineup and drew a walk in the first inning. The next batter clubbed a three-run homer for a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the second, Ben Ross dropped a double over the first baseman’s head in right field, and later scored their fifth run of the game on a double from Tommy Troy. Rosario followed with an RBI single and it was 6-0 Rafters after two.

Salt River added two more runs in the fifth after Troy led off with a double, and Rosario moved him to third on a fielder’s choice play that included an error. Rosario then stole second base and they both came around to score on another Scorpions error to make it 8-0.

Ross drew a walk in a three-run seventh inning, but those runs came before he could advance any further.

Devin Kirby finished out the ninth inning for Salt River, coming into the game with a 13-1 lead. The knuckleball knuckled a bit too much, leading to the final score of 13-4 as Kirby walked two, allowed three singles, and a few balls got past the catcher en route to being charged with three earned runs. He struck out one.

With the decisive win, the Rafters would move on to face a team they had just lost to twice earlier in the week. 

AFL Championship Game
Salt River 3, Surprise 2
Box Score
Perhaps it was appropriate that the two teams who tied atop the leaderboard during the regular season in runs scored, faced off against each other in the AFL Championship game.

Rosario again was batting third in the lineup, playing right field, while Ross took his home at shortstop batting seventh. They both ended up playing key roles in the game.

The Surprise Saguaros struck first with a two out rally in the bottom half of the first inning. A single, walk, and RBI single gave them a 1-0 lead. In the top of the second Robert Hassell III of Salt River clubbed a one-out triple, and Ross brought him in with a sac fly to tie the game at one.

The top of the third started with a leadoff double for Salt River, and Rosario came to the plate later with two outs and that runner had yet to advance any further. That fact wouldn’t matter, as Rosario traded places at second with an RBI double of his own to put the Rafters in front 3-1.

In the top of the fourth Salt River cost themselves a run when Ryan Ritter, who led off the inning with a single, was picked off at first base in front of Ross. That’s because Ross sent a double down the third base line, and he ended up at third after a throwing error, where he would be stranded.

The Rafters added their third run in the top of fifth, and it again came on a batted ball from Rosario. Three walks loaded the bases with no outs in front of him, and though his grounder to second turned into a double-play, it did allow a run to score for a 3-1 lead.

Surprise would get one back in the bottom half, but from there the bullpens of each team shut it down. Rosario drew a walk in the seventh to put runners on first and second, but that’s as close as Salt River would get the rest of the way.

There was some anxiety in the bottom of the ninth, as a hit batter and a walk put the tying run in scoring position, but the Rafters were able to close out the victory and take home the Arizona Fall League Championship as Ben Ross fielded the final out to clinch it

Congrats to manager Tyler Smarslok, all of the Twins prospects, and the rest of the Salt River Rafters roster on a job well done! This is the second time in the last five years that Twins prospects have taken home a title for Salt River, as Royce Lewis led the Rafters to a win in 2019. Edouard Julien and Austin Martin also helped the Glendale Desert Dogs reach the title game in 2022, falling 6-5 to Surprise in extra innings.

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

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[jmlease1]

None of the pitchers did anything to impress.

Disappointed that De Andrade didn't get to play. I assume he hadn't actually recovered well enough from the injury to get on the field? Still a bummer, but hopefully he can get right over the winter and be ready to get back at it. I still like his potential at SS, he's one of the guys in the system that I think could actually stick there, but he'll need to keep developing (and hit) as he goes.

Solid job by Rosario. Good to have him get some additional swings in after missing time with an injury. He'll need to the power to flow again in AA, but it was good to see him making a lot of consistent contact. And maybe the OF reps will help him be less...bad...out there. I like his RH bat, but I'd like it more if he could get closer to average in the field and the Ks will always be a concern.

Ross definitely helped himself after a slow start. He really hit the AA wall hard, so maybe this helps him into next season. he has to show he can't get bullied in AA as a hitter next season in order to advance. The defense is solid enough, but not so superior that he can make it as a no-hit defensive specialist. he doesn't need to be swinging for the fences: doubles power is enough, but he needs to be able to get there consistently with a solid BA. no one feared him in AA last season and he got overwhelmed. he needs to do to AA pitching what he did to the AFL.

[Otaknam]

I wonder why the FO chose these pitchers for the 2025 AFL. I recognized only a couple of the names on the Twins pitching roster. None of those guys had impressive credentials and seem poised to make a big jump in 2025. Why wasn’t Conner Prielipp given some AFL innings, since he could be ready to make a move in 2025.

Edited November 20, 2024 by Otaknam
Soelling

[Steve Lein]

5 hours ago, Otaknam said:

I wonder why the FO chose these pitchers for the 2025 AFL. I recognized only a couple of the names on the Twins pitching roster. None of those guys had impressive credentials and seem poised to make a big jump in 2025. Why wasn’t Conner Prielipp given some AFL innings, since he could be ready to make a move in 2025.

Looks to me like it was a combination of who missed a lot of innings, and is willing or wants to go. Danny De Andrade was probably the Twins top priority choice to play shortstop for Salt River, but since he wasn't able that may have been transferred to Ben Ross.

I thought Prielipp was a good candidate, as well as C.J. Culpepper and Cory Lewis. Any one of them would have been a top name in the league as far as pitchers go. 

[gman]

The quality of Twins pitchers make me wonder about the overall pitching in the league this year. Taking nothing away from Ross or Rosario, but you can only hit against the pitchers you face.

Does anyone know of a place to review stats for the AFL?

[ashbury]

21 minutes ago, gman said:

The quality of Twins pitchers make me wonder about the overall pitching in the league this year. Taking nothing away from Ross or Rosario, but you can only hit against the pitchers you face.

Does anyone know of a place to review stats for the AFL?

baseball-reference.com has 'em.  For Salt River:

  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=53cb1207

There are only 6 teams, so it's not too inconvenient to look them up one at a time. Here's their league page:

  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=0e7661c4

Maybe you'll find the mlb.com page more convenient for whatever purpose you have:

  https://www.mlb.com/arizona-fall-league/stats/

[gman]

Just now, ashbury said:

baseball-reference.com has 'em.  For Salt River:

  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=53cb1207

There are only 6 teams, so it's not too inconvenient to look them up one at a time. Here's their league page:

  https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=0e7661c4

Maybe you'll find the mlb.com page more convenient for whatever purpose you have:

  https://www.mlb.com/arizona-fall-league/stats/

Thanks