Twins Arizona Fall League Report (Week 3): DeBarge Has Big Week, Pitching Falters

[Steve Lein]

Game Results:
Tuesday, 10/20 | Salt River 10, Peoria 11
Wednesday, 10/21 | Salt River 7, Scottsdale 5 (7 innings)
Thursday, 10/22 | Scottsdale 15, Salt River 8
Saturday, 10/24 | Surprise 5, Salt River 3

The Salt River Rafter won just one of their four games during the week, but remained within a game of first place in the standings after week three.

They split a home-and-home series with the Scottsdale Scorpions, and fell in close games with the Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros in their other contests.

Week 3’s top performers per MLB.com again did not feature any of the Twins prospects, but it did include three of their teammates, including one who is on an impressive power binge. One of the Twins hitters does lead the league in runs scored, while also ranking highly in batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS.

OF Yasser Mercedes
Week (3 games): 4-for-11, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 SB (3)
Overall (through 10/25): .325/.400/.525 (.925 OPS)
Mercedes batted in the heart of the Rafters order in all three of his games on the week, including number three in the lineup on Wednesday against Scottsdale. He played right field in two games, and left field in the other.

He had a hit in all three games, and drove in one run in two of them. He finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, RBI, and outfield assist in their win against the Scorpions. In the top of the first he reached base on a two-out single then stole second base. In the top of the fifth he added another single and he would later score on a double to make it 3-1. He tacked on a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth that made it 7-1 Rafters at the time.

IF Kyle DeBarge
Week (3 games): 4-for-10, 5 R, HR (2), 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, SB (5)
Overall (through 10/25): .366/.509/.610 (1.119 OPS)
DeBarge finished week two with an OPS above 1.000, but managed to increase it even further after week three. He played in three games including two in center field, and one at third base. He batted third in the lineup twice, and second in the other.

Like Mercedes, he had at least one hit in each of his games. In Tuesday’s game against the Javelinas he finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. In the top of the seventh his second home run of the AFL season tied the game at nine. In Thursday’s loss against the Scorpions he scored three runs by reaching base in four of five trips to the batters box, going 1-for-2 with three walks. He closed his week with a 1-for-4 effort on Saturday, also stealing his fifth base.

LHP Cesar Lares
Week (1 appearance): 1 1/3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Overall (through 10/25): 0-0, 13.50 ERA, 10 BB, 6 K, 3.00 WHIP, .345 BAA (6 2/3 IP)
Lares lone appearance on the week came in Thursday’s tilt with the Scottsdale Scorpions to begin the top of the sixth inning. The Scorpions were already in front 5-2, but by the time his outing was over they would double their run total. Lares allowed one run in the sixth, and four in the seventh before he was lifted by the manager. He needed 58 pitches (34 for strikes) to record four outs.

LHP Ross Dunn
Week (1 start): 2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Overall (through 10/25): 0-1, 20.25 ERA, 7 BB, 7 K, 3.30 WHIP, .455 BAA (6 2/3 IP)
Dunn made the start for the Rafters on Tuesday against Peoria and battled into the third inning. A leadoff triple in the first led to a run scored, while a leadoff walk in the second was followed by a home run that tied the game at three. In the third things went fully off the rails as three singles, a walk, and hit-by-pitch resulted in a call to the bullpen. That led into a three-run homer to make it 9-3 Javelinas at the time, with two of those runs counting against Dunn’s stat line. 28 of his 46 pitches went for strikes (61%).

LHP Cleiber Maldonado
Week (1 appearance): Save (1), 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Overall (through 10/25): 0-0, 2.70 ERA, 2 BB, 6 K, 1.50 WHIP, .231 BAA (3 1/3 IP)
Maldonado closed out the Rafters lone win on the week, taking over in the seventh inning on Wednesday against Scottsdale. He struck out the first batter of the inning on a 96.3 MPH fastball on the outside corner, before walking the next batter to bring the tying run into the batters box. But he induced a game-ending double-play ball to pick up his first save of the AFL season.

LHP Jake Murray
Week (1 appearance): 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Overall (through 10/25): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 BB, 2 K, 1.29 WHIP, .143 BAA (2 1/3 IP)
Murray took the Brian Zeldin mantle for the week, recording just one out in his lone appearance, which came in Tuesday’s battle with Peoria. With two outs and two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh with the game tied at nine, he was brought on to face a fellow lefty. Unfortunately he gave up a RBI double that put the Javelinas in front, but did strike out the next batter to end the inning.

RHP Brian Zeldin
Week (1 appearance): 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R (1 ER)
Overall (through 10/25): 1-0, 3.86 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, .333 BAA, 0 BB, 2 K (2 1/3 IP)
Zeldin made his first appearance recording more than one out in Wednesday’s win over the Scorpions. He was tasked with the sixth inning while the Rafters were leading 7-1. He got the first batter on a flyout, but then allowed three consecutive singles to load the bases. Then an error allowed the first two runs of the inning to score, and then an RBI groundout and RBI single cut the Rafters lead to two before he got the final out of the inning.

OF Jacob McCombs
Week (did not play):
McCombs has yet to see the field for the Salt River Rafters this season, but the hope is that he will be able to take the field soon with his fellow prospects!

C Enrique Jimenez
Week (1 game): 0-for-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Overall (through 10/25): .000/.333/.000 (.333 OPS)
Jimenez served as the DH on Thursday against the Scorpions, and batted ninth in the lineup. He didn’t pick up his first hit in AFL play but did draw a pair of walks. The second of those came in the bottom of the eighth inning with the Rafters attempting to mount a comeback. After DeBarge drew a walk two-batters behind him the bases were loaded, and all three runners scored on a bases-clearing triple that made it 12-8 Scorpions.

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

Image courtesy of Colby Gaines, Cedar Rapids Kernels (photo of Kyle DeBarge)

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[Permanent Twins Fan]

I really hope we don't get a rule for outfield shifts. It seems pretty nit-picky to me. 

[DJL44]

5-3 score qualifies as a pitchers duel in this league.

league average OPS is 776 and ERA is 5.85. League walk rate is 6.5 per 9 innings. Ugly baseball.

[Steve Lein]

1 hour ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

I really hope we don't get a rule for outfield shifts. It seems pretty nit-picky to me. 

This version of it is certainly pretty extreme. I've said before that I like the intent, but the execution is way off and it is a major blow to strategy. Professional baseball players should be able to adjust a lot better than they have been made to, IMO. But overall, I don't think this one will gain any legs. Certainly not in this format.

[Patzky]

4 hours ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

I really hope we don't get a rule for outfield shifts. It seems pretty nit-picky to me. 

Positioning Board Challenge. Tap your cleats and hope the ump is watching.

[jmlease1]

Happy to see DeBarge and Mercedes both doing well.

DeBarge has not hit so far in the minors really at all and struggled at pretty much everything last season offensively: too many K's, no pop, low BA, nothing. Even started getting caught on the bases more. Sure, AFL pitching is probably closer to High A now than AA like it used to be, but it's still good to see DeBarge actually doing something with it. Defensively, he's a guy that could slot into several positions, but he has to hit at least something.

Mercedes is interesting, showed a few things in A-ball, and it's good for him to get some additional ABs. It may be a hitter's league, but he's doing pretty well for a guy who hasn't turned 22 yet, and could see himself in AA in 2027.

[DocBauer]

Very disappointed in both Lares and Dunn. But maybe they're just working on something specific and the numbers don't really matter??

I'd like to see Maldonado. He was showing promise in the low minors before missing 2025 due to injury. He didn't have a very good 2026, so it's nice to see him off to a good start in the AFL.

[jmlease1]

9 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Very disappointed in both Lares and Dunn. But maybe they're just working on something specific and the numbers don't really matter??

I'd like to see Maldonado. He was showing promise in the low minors before missing 2025 due to injury. He didn't have a very good 2026, so it's nice to see him off to a good start in the AFL.

It was a disastrous outing for Lares, but...it's 1 bad day, you know? He didn't pitch a ton in 2026 and missed all of 2025, so I'm guessing he's still working his way back together. His first 2 outings were solid, and he clearly just needs the work.

Definitely feels like the AFL is the "we need to get guys work in a controlled environment" league now. which is fine, just means we probably need to change the expectations for what it means for guys when they go there.