North Star Nine Prospect Weekly: Houston's Week at the Plate, Lackey Stays Hot at Cedar Rapids
By Liam Carter ·
North Star Nine Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Twins farm system.
Houston Carries the Offense at Wichita
Marek Houston (AA, SS, Rank: 12) went 8-for-25 with a double, five RBI, and six walks across 25 plate appearances this week, including a two-run single on September 8 and another two-RBI knock two days earlier. That is a lot of run production out of a position where the scouting profile calls for defense to lead and the bat to stay playable rather than carry anything. Over his last 30 days at Double-A, he is hitting .296 with an 8.7 percent walk rate and a 15.2 percent strikeout rate while making contact at an 86.9 percent clip on a 38.8 percent swing rate. That contact number is the headline: it is genuinely elite for a level where pitchers sequence, throw strikes, and change speeds for a living, and it tells you the compact swing is doing its job even against better stuff.
For the full 2026 season across High-A and Double-A, Houston is slashing .310/.391/.456 with 12 home runs, 50 stolen bases, and a 19.5 percent strikeout rate in 543 plate appearances. The jump from 24 stolen bases at High-A last year in limited action to 50 combined this season demonstrates the speed is a real weapon, not a projection. The power is modest at 45 raw, but the doubles have shown up and a handful of home runs each season keeps pitchers from parking the ball wherever they want. He is a defense-first shortstop with a 65 field grade and a 60 arm, and the question of whether the bat clears the everyday bar is still live. Weeks like this one make the offensive floor look more durable than the skeptical read on his profile would suggest.
Lackey Keeps Finding His Pitch at Cedar Rapids
Vahn Lackey (A+, C, Rank: 2) went 4-for-11 with an RBI and a walk in 11 plate appearances this week, continuing one of the more productive stretches in the system. Over his last 30 days at High-A, he is slashing .276/.462/.483 with three home runs, 20 walks, and a 25.6 percent walk rate across 78 plate appearances, a number that belongs on a different planet from the typical aggressive approach a catcher his age brings to the plate. His swing rate sits at 32.7 percent for that stretch, which is about as selective as a hitter can be without becoming passive, and the contact rate of 75.9 percent is holding up even as he sees more competitive sequencing. For the season across Low-A and High-A combined, he is posting a .250/.435/.424 line with a 22.6 percent walk rate in 124 plate appearances.
The full profile still draws a 55 hit and 55 power grade alongside a 65 arm and 60 field grade, and the all-star projection feels grounded rather than speculative given what he is showing in the zone. His biggest present challenge is translating the approach into more consistent power output; the walk-to-strikeout ratio is exceptional, but the extra-base numbers suggest he is still learning when to flip from contact mode to damage mode. That is a coaching conversation, not a structural flaw. At 21 years old with a defensive foundation that is already drawing strong reviews behind the plate, Lackey does not need to peak now. The patient, pitch-selection approach he is running with right now actually suggests the bat will age well as the raw power becomes more consistently deployable. I'd take the over on the 55 power grade getting to 60 within the next year of professional reps.
Quick Hits
- Adrian Bohorquez (AA, RHP, Rank: 23) · pitched three innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out three. The surface line is unremarkable, but the last-30-day picture at Double-A is the real story: a 1.25 ERA across five starts covering 21.2 innings, 25 strikeouts, and just three earned runs allowed. His 27.5 percent season strikeout rate and 31.7 percent whiff rate confirm the bat-missing ability is real. He carries a 55 fastball sitting 95-98 and a pair of breaking balls that flash average, with command at 45 still the primary ceiling question.
- Khadim Diaw (AA, C, Rank: 41) · drove in two runs on four hits including a home run and two doubles, adding two walks and three hit-by-pitches across 23 plate appearances. His Double-A strikeout rate on the season sits at just 9.8 percent in 224 plate appearances, a genuinely unusual number for a catcher navigating his first extended look at the level. He is a 50 hit, 45 power catcher whose carry is bat-to-ball and zone control, and the production has backed the profile all year.
- Kala'i Rosario (AAA, OF, Rank: 37) · went 5-for-14 with a double and an RBI across 14 plate appearances. The modest RBI total does not diminish what has been a strong recent stretch: over his last 30 days at Triple-A, he is slugging .646 with six home runs and a .308 average in 67 plate appearances, pushing his Triple-A season home run count to eight in just 131 plate appearances. The strikeout rate at 31.3 percent for the season and a contact rate that hovers around 66 percent remain persistent concerns for a 40 hit tool corner outfielder, but the 55 power grade has looked conservative lately.
- Gabriel Gonzalez (AAA, RF, Rank: 15) · was optioned from the big league roster to St. Paul on September 10. He had been up with the Twins and returns to Triple-A with prospect eligibility intact. Worth tracking whether he gets another look in September.
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (AAA, CF, Rank: 4) · had a below-average week, going 6-for-25 with no extra-base hits, two RBI, and three walks against seven strikeouts across 25 plate appearances. It is a flat line for a player who carries a 55 hit and 60 power grade projecting to an everyday corner role. His last-30-day numbers at Triple-A still show a .277 average.417 on-base percentage, five home runs, and an 17.5 percent walk rate over 103 plate appearances, so the week reads more like a pause than a regression. The swing-and-miss, with a 65.5 percent contact rate on the season, is the one number that does not normalize easily, and it remains the central question for his MLB projection.
- Eduardo Tait (A+, C, Rank: 5) · went 3-for-11 with a double and an RBI in 11 plate appearances, a modest week for one of the system's higher-ceiling arms behind the plate. His last 30 days at High-A show a .171 average and just a 6.1 percent walk rate across 82 plate appearances, a rough stretch for a 20-year-old with 22 home runs on the season. The 60 raw power and 60 arm are still in the profile, and the home run total confirms the impact plays in games when the approach is dialed in. The aggressive swing tendency, 54.9 percent swing rate for the season, is the thing to watch as he works through this soft patch.