Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitters of the Month - August 2025

[Steve Lein]

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey (photo of Kala'i Rosario)

While a former prospect who came into the majors hot a few years ago claimed Twins Daily’s Minor League Hitter of the Month award in July, he has since found himself back in the majors after the drastic Twins trade deadline. As the calendar turned to August, it was some of those new prospects (and veterans) who staked their claim to the award mentions this month. While we will go into some further depth on the top four, first let's talk about a few honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions:
Walker Jenkins was recently promoted to the St. Paul Saints and just had a bit of a breakout performance at his new level. To get there, he ended his final 21 games with Wichita on a tear, posting a 1.121 OPS including five doubles and five home runs. Multiple teammates at his new assignment also had strong months, as Payton Eeles (.415 OBP), DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (.500 SLUG), and Gabriel Gonzalez (.308 AVG) put up stand-out numbers. Down in the Dominican Summer League Joyner Perez, Darwin Almanzar, and Jamesson Val also closed out their seasons with OPS’s above .900 on the month.

So, there were several strong contenders for this award in August, but let's see who rose above them all to take the top spots.

4. Enrique Jimenez, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
Stats: .298/.459/.632 (1.091), 11 R, 2 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 17 BB, 19 K, SB (16 games)
Acquired in the trade of Chris Paddack to the Detroit Tigers, Jimenez is a 19-year-old switch-hitting catcher who began his season in the Rookie Leagues. Upon his arrival at the Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers, the Twins immediately bumped him to the Mighty Mussels, and he’s been one of the best hitters in the Florida State League since. His six home runs are tied for third on the team in just 19 games, while team leader Yasser Mercedes has 10 homers in 90+ games. Almost 90% of his plate appearances have come against older pitchers this year, and he could creep into top 20 Twins prospect lists heading into the 2026 season if he doesn’t slow down.

3. Jhonny Pereda, St. Paul Saints
Stats: .348/.516/.630 (1.146), 10 R, 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 15 BB, 12 K (14 games)
The Twins claimed Pereda off waivers from the Oakland Athletics back in July and while he has spent a few days on the MLB roster, he has only played with the Saints since then. He started as part of their catcher rotation but as his bat heated up in early August, he started getting a bulk of the work in the middle of the month. In his first 8 games with St. Paul, he hit .393/.500/.679, then drove in four with a pair of late doubles against the Round Rock Express on 8/23. While Pereda has yet to get any serious run at the major league level, he has hit .295/.392/.418 in 253 career games in Triple-A.

2. Kyler Fedko, St. Paul Saints
Stats: .300/.377/.550 (.927), 21 R, 7 2B, 6 HR, 16 RBI, 12 BB, 27 K, 7 SB (25 games)
The soon-to-be 26-year-old outfielder led Double-A in home runs with 20 before being promoted to St. Paul to start the month of August. He hasn’t missed a beat in the International league, posting his second highest monthly OPS on the year with a .927 mark in his first 25 games. He’s added six home runs to his Twins minor league leading total with 26 on the year. In his first 12 games with the Saints, Fedko did nothing but hit, batting .370/.455/.674 with five doubles and three homers. He punctuated his excellent debut at the new level with a 5-for-5, multi-home run, explosion on 8/19.

Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Month:
1. Kala’i Rosario, Wichita Wind Surge
Stats: .305/.421/.714 (1.135), 27 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 23 RBI, 20 BB, 30 K, 4 SB (27 games)
Rosario took a 95-octane-soaked-flaming-torch-of-a-bat to the Texas League during the month of August. He comfortably led the circuit in homers on the month with 11, was second in RBI with 23, and trailed only Arizona Diamondbacks top 100 prospect Ryan Waldschmidt in OPS by .008 points. His 25 home runs and 81 RBI on the season (as of 9/2) with Wichita also leads the league. While the strikeouts may remain high (27.4% of plate appearances), his 69 walks (13.1%) also rank second overall, and he’s shown improvement as the year has gone on. His strikeout rate was 43.5% in April but checked in at 23.8% this past month.

The former Midwest League MVP has had a resurgent season, and the month of August was on another level, eclipsing his prior month-best OPS on the year by nearly .200 points. 11 of his 27 games on the month had multiple hits, including a two-home run, six RBI outburst last Thursday against Arkansas where he walked it off with a grand slam to put an exclamation point on his summer with the Wind Surge. It is certain he will be in St. Paul to begin the 2026 season, but there remains a good chance he gets a taste of Triple-A to end the 2025 campaign as well.

Who would have made it onto your ballot? What else was exciting about the hitters talked about above or anyone else in the Twins farm system in the last month?

 

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[FlyingFinn]

Rosario hitting so well since April and yet Gonzalez and Jenkins passed him by to AAA. Gonzalez is now hitting at AAA and Jenkins will certainly be with the Twins sometime in 2026. Not sure where Rosario will fit in.

Fedko - are the Twins not giving him a shot because they will try to slip him past the Rule 5 draft? I say yes due to age and this being his first great year (plus, teams take a lot more pitchers).

Pereda - #'s look great but if the Twins don't dare call you up in place of Gasper... it kind of tells us what the Twins think of him.

Great month by these guys to make the Twins and us think about each of them - should they get a shot or not on the Twins?

[LA Vikes Fan]

I've been wondering why Fedko isn't getting a callup to see where he is and FlyingFinn may have supplied the answer. I guess if we don't call him up and thus don't put him on the 40 man we have a chance of getting him by the Rule 5 draft. Still, I think that he should get a shot at being part of a 1B combination next season unless we sign a FA to play 1B. There ain't a lot out there other than Naylor and he may be out of our price range.   

[Otaknam]

At this point in a lost season, why would the team keep Outman and his .130 average instead of giving Fedko a shot? And the same with the disastrous bullpen filled with waiver wire pickups and discarded pitchers too horrible for other teams. Is there no one on the AAA roster who deserves a shot? In baseball there is not much incentive to tank for high draft picks because it’s so much harder to project baseball players than basketball and football. Is there some financial incentive to finish out the season with this bunch, especially in the bullpen. They are unwatchable! Fire the front office and Rocco!

[DJL44]

16 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Pereda - #'s look great but if the Twins don't dare call you up in place of Gasper... it kind of tells us what the Twins think of him.

He might help them win a game. Can't have that. Better to call up Dashawn Keirsey instead.

[twinstalker]

It is not difficult to put up big numbers in St. Paul, as should be obvious with 1, 2, ad 3 all being Saints.  But lets see if we can rule them out from contributing to the Twins:

3. Jhonny Pereda -- age 29 season, too old, esp at catcher

2.  Kyler Fedko --  all his stats are average to mediocre while being too old for his levels, K rate too high for his profile, level, age vs level.

1.   Kala'i Rosario -- 28% K rate, can basically rule him out.  One speck of hope would be his his numbers and K rate are much better vs lhp.  But I think his defense precludes that being enough to play him.  He appears to be Yunior Severino.

Without this info, a person could get the idea that Twins "prospects" suddenly suck when they reach MLB.

[Trov]

None of these guys should be really listed as a top prospect at this point.  Rosario was, but he has got passed by and really has little room in the Twins pecking order.  Sure, if they make some moves or injuries he could get his chance, but I have a feeling he will be left up to rule 5. 

Fedko is older breaking out, and not saying he could not contribute to a team at his age, but I am not getting too excited on a guy that breaks out in AAA at age 26. 

Pareda is 29, no a prospect.

Jimenez could climb lists, but he is 19 and not touted, but he at least has chance to become a top prospect.

[Mike Sixel]

People realize this thread is about current performance and celebrating, right?

[DocBauer]

I don't think there's any doubt that Tait is currently the top catching prospect in the system. But Jiminez has been described as a young Vazquez behind the plate, and much better, potentially, AT the plate. I'm still surprises Detroit kept him at the FCL level for a 2nd season. I think the Twins did the right thing moving him to Ft Myers. But I never saw this kind of hot streak coming! He's probably not close to this good as a hitter, but it's encouraging to see him embrace this opportunity and finish strong. With solid defense and a strong arm, a switch hitting catcher with power could carve out a nice ML career in a few years.

Speaking of catchers, good on Pareda for having a strong month. I don't know if he'll even be the #3 man in 2026 or not, but I find it a bit strange that he's not getting a looksee at the end of the season. While not as good of a hitter as Gasper, he's more of a true catcher, I believe, and has hit at the AAA level well. I guess they just really want to see if Gasper has a future with the team or not.

Prospect wise, I have no doubt that the younger Gonzalez looks to probably have a better future than Fedko. But the whole age thing/debate bothers me a bit. If a guy "figures it out" later than hoped for/expected, all I care is whether or not he can help the team. Yes, he's going to be 26yo on September 21st as the AAA season comes to a close. But he was about 25 and 6 months when the season started. Should the extra 6 months just eliminate him from being a possible option for the Twins? A college player is occasionally 20yo when drafted, but are usually 21-22yo when selected. To have a breakthrough in his age 25 season tells me he's worth giving honest consideration to.

Fedko just might end up with a 30/30 season between AA and AAA, has usually had a really good OB%, and might be able to fill in at 4 spots, potentially, and provide a mix of ability as a 4th OF. He's having an outstanding season overall, and I'd like to think that means a serious looksee as a contributor for 2026. There's room for a player of his skill set, especially from the RH side, and to not be given a look this month when they have Outman AND Keirsey on the Twins right now is an extremely poor use of potential assets and determination of value.

I wasn't really sure what to think about Rosario as a "covid kid" when selected in 2020. But then he improved across the board and became the MWL MVP in the 2023 season. Then he's hurt in 2024 and misses about a third of the season. You follow that up with a horrendous April this year and the knee jerk reaction is to dismiss him.

Instead, he goes on a run and is actually finishing the season actually stronger than any of his previous months. He just might win a SECOND MVP award in 3yrs! I DON'T believe he's any kind of 20SB threat going forward. But it shows he's not just a stiff, non-athletletic slugger. His K% anywhere in the 20's with a decent BB rate and legitimate XB and HR power is just fine if he can maintain that. He's got a strong arm from all that I've ever read. I think he's "Wallner-like" in that he needs to polish reads and routes, continue to keep a decently solid BB/K ratio. If he continues on his current progression, I see a future as a part time OF/DH who might even be a 1B conversation candidate. 

He's barely 23yo and missed some time due to covid and his injury in '23. But again, barely 23yo and just might win his 2nd leage MVP award? That's a guy that shouldn't be dismissed as an actual prospect despite a poor and injury affected 2024.

[Major League Ready]

Rosario was sensational after April.  I hope they have him taking ground balls and learning the foot work for 1B all winter long and spring training.  They have a good shot at coming up with a 1B/OF between Rosario, Menedez, Fedko, and Sabato.