Twins Arizona Fall League Report (Week 1): Mercedes and DeBarge Start Strong

Game Results:
Saturday, 10/3 | Salt River 9, Glendale 4
Sunday, 10/4 | Salt River 4, Surprise 6
Monday, 10/5 | Peoria 7, Salt River 10
Tuesday, 10/6 | Surprise 2, Salt River 7
Thursday, 10/8 | Mesa 3, Salt River 4
Friday, 10/9 | Glendale 9, Salt River 13
Saturday, 10/10 | Scottsdale 10, Salt River 2

Prospects from the Twins organization are playing for the Salt River Rafters this year, and they are joined by players from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, and New York Yankees organizations. The Twins have sent eight players and they are perhaps headlined by hitters Yasser Mercedes ($1.7MIL international signing in 2022) and Kyle DeBarge (2024 Competitive Balance round selection, 33rd overall). Other top prospects on the Rafters roster include right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana from the Nationals (66th overall prospect per MLB.com), shortstop Dax Kilby from the Yankees (78th overall), and second baseman Demetrio Crisantes (84th overall) of the Diamondbacks. The biggest name in the Fall circuit this year is MLB.com’s #8 overall prospect, Sebastian Walcott of the Texas Rangers.

If you’ve followed along in this league over the past five or so seasons, you will know that the league is all about hitting, as very few top pitching prospects appear in the circuit unless they’re coming off significant injuries or time missed. Susana from the Rafters falls into this category, as did Andrew Painter during the 2024 season. In other AFL quirks, Major League Baseball also likes to experiment with different rules during the season, and this one might perk your eyebrows up. The Rafters home field is equipped with extra tech and markings in the field of play, all meant to experiment with limiting where fielders are allowed to position themselves. The intent behind it might be sound (increasing hits), but I’m not sure the spirit is (strategy). We’ll see if this one ever comes to fruition further in the future.

The Rafters had a strong first week, finishing 5-2 and second in the standings after games through Sunday and leading the league in runs scored. No Twins player showed up on the “Top Performers” in Week 1 list, but that doesn’t mean any of them didn’t make a positive first impression out in the desert.

OF Yasser Mercedes
Week (5 games): 4-for-16, 5 R, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K
Overall: .250/.350/.500 (.850 OPS)
Mercedes split his time between all three outfield positions in his five games and batted in the middle of the lineup throughout.

He scored two runs and drove in one with a sac fly in the season's opening game on Saturday, but made his loudest noise in Thursday’s 4-3 win over Mesa. He was instrumental in the victory, clubbing his first home run in the bottom of the first, a two-run shot that made it 3-0 Salt River. Then with the game tied at three in the ninth delivered a one-out double to put himself in scoring position as the game-winning run, which he scored on a two-out single for the walk-off.

IF Kyle DeBarge
Week (5 games): 5-for-17, 5 R, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 SB (2)
Overall: .294/.435/.471 (.906 OPS)
Debarge was also moved around the diamond in week one playing second base, third base, and shortstop. He hit at the top of the lineup in each, serving as the leadoff man in three of them, and second in the other two.

He had an exceptional showing in Friday’s 13-9 win over Glendale, as he finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI, and a walk. He had RBI singles in the second and sixth innings, and led off the game for the Rafters with a double in the bottom of the first, coming around to score the game's first run on a single from the next batter. He also added a triple to his stat line in Tuesday’s 7-2 win over Surprise.

LHP Cesar Lares
Week (1 start): 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Overall: 0-0, 2.70 ERA, 3 1/3 IP (1 start), 1.50 WHIP, .231 BAA, 2 BB, 4 K
Lares appears to be the lone Twins lone pitcher who might be assigned starting duties for the Rafters, and he was solid in his AFL debut against the Peoria Javelinas on Monday.

He struck out the first batter he faced and added a second K in the first inning. In the second he worked around a one-out single for a scoreless inning, then a leadoff walk in the third to keep the Javelinas off the board. He finally ran into some real trouble in the fourth after a leadoff walk and stolen base, but also notched his fourth strikeout before being lifted. One runner did come around to score for his only charged blemish on the outing, but the Rafters lineup responded with five runs in the bottom half to take control of the game.

LHP Ross Dunn
Week (1 appearance): 2 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 K
Overall: 0-0, 15.43 ERA, 2 1/3 IP (1 appearance), 3.00 WHIP, .500 BAA, 0 BB, 2 K
Dunn gets the unfortunate moniker of Twins pitcher who had the worst outing during week 1. But like all pitchers in the AFL, his numbers from each should be taken individually as the small sample amplifies the overall stat line if they have a bad outing or inning.

After Lares was taken out in the fourth inning on Monday, Dunn was summoned to start the fifth against Peoria with Salt River leading 6-1. Small cuts from three singles and three stolen bases led to two runs in the frame. A solo homer in the sixth added a third run to the ledger, before he escaped two other hits with no further damage. Back out for the seventh, a one-out double ended his outing before a wild-pitch allowed the fourth run charged to him to score. In positive notes, 29 of his 43 pitches went for strikes (67%) and he didn’t walk a batter. 

LHP Cleiber Maldonado
Week (2 appearances): 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 K
Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 2/3 IP (2 appearances), 1.20 WHIP, .250 BAA, 0 BB, 4 K
The third of four left-handed pitchers for the Twins made two appearances on the week, coming in as the finisher in both Saturday and Friday’s wins, though with differing results.

In the season opener on Saturday against Glendale the score was 9-1 as the inning began. A leadoff single was followed by an error to put multiple runners on. Maldonado responded by striking out the next two hitters, the second on a 97.1 MPH fastball, before he hit a batter to load the bases and result in another call to the bullpen. The next batter proceeded to clear the bases with a double, leading to three unearned runs charged to Maldonado.

On Friday he dotted two more 97 MPH fastballs on the inside corner and bottom of the zone to strike out two hitters in a scoreless inning, working around a two-out single to close out the win.

LHP Jake Murray
Week (1 appearance): 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP (1 appearance) 1.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 1 BB, 1 K
The final left-hander in the group made his lone appearance of the week in Thursday's walk-off win, where he came on for the top of the ninth inning and held the Solar Sox at bay.

He walked the leadoff man on four pitches, and it kinda looks like he might have had something against the batter, as everything was high and tight, but he retired the next three hitters to pick up a hold and set the stage for Mercedes and the rest. He punctuated the outing by striking out the final hitter with a swing-and-miss curveball.

RHP Brian Zeldin
Week (2 appearances): 2/3 IP,  1 K
Overall: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2/3 IP (2 appearances), 0.00 WHIP, .000 BAA, 0 BB, 1 K
In quirks of being a relief pitcher in the AFL, Zeldin made two appearances during the week but was only tasked with recording the final out of the inning in each.

In the season opener he came on with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and induced a groundout to end the frame. In Friday’s win against Glendale Zeldin was the first reliever summoned with two outs in the top of the second inning. He struck out his lone batter and got credited with a win for his four-pitch effort. Even more odd than that, is the pitcher he came in to relieve, did the same for him to start the third, re-entering the game to pitch another inning.

OF Jacob McCombs
Week: Did not play
McCombs did not see play during week 1 of the Arizona Fall League season, but any reason there might be is unknown at this time. McCombs was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round of the 2025 draft, and he hit .268/.378/.452 (.830 OPS) with 25 extra-base hits in 67 games this season for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. If he’s dealing with an injury, it just might be because of the fact he also reached base by being hit with a pitch 27 times on the season, a nearly 10% rate that many hitters would be jealous of when it comes to taking walks.

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

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