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

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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