Twins Prospect Weekly: Rosario Goes Deep Five Times, Khadim Diaw Shines at Double-A
By Liam Carter ·
Twins Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Twins farm system.
Rosario's Power Week at Triple-A
Kala'i Rosario (AAA, OF, Rank: 38) hit five home runs in 24 plate appearances this week, driving in eight runs while posting a zero-walk, seven-strikeout line that captures everything about his profile in one stat box. The power is real and has been the consistent thread through his 2026 season: he now has 19 home runs across 368 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A, with 11 at Double-A before his promotion to St. Paul. Over the last 30 days at Triple-A, he is slugging .657 with seven home runs in 73 plate appearances, and the raw power grade of 55 has looked conservative in that stretch. This version of Rosario justifies continued organizational patience.
The concerns have not disappeared, though. His contact rate at Triple-A sits at 66.4 percent for the season, matching the swing-and-miss floor he posted at Double-A in 2025, and his strikeout rate has hovered around 30 percent at every stop. His swing rate of 39.7 percent is genuinely selective, which keeps the walk numbers respectable but has not translated into cleaner contact against better sequencing and premium velocity. He is a 40 hit tool, 55 power corner outfielder projecting to a second-division role, and the ceiling question is whether the power comes with enough contact to stay out of platoon or roster-crunch territory. The last 30 days make the power argument loudly. The rest of the profile has to answer back.
Diaw Takes to Double-A Like He Was Already There
Khadim Diaw (AA, C, Rank: 23) went 9-for-18 with two doubles, a home run, and just one strikeout across 18 plate appearances at Double-A this week. The no-walk line keeps it from being a perfect plate-discipline showcase, but the contact quality and the strikeout absence at a new level stand out from the broader box score. Over his last 30 days at Double-A, he is slashing .395/.442/.579 in 43 plate appearances with just a 7.0 percent strikeout rate, a number that looks almost impossible for a hitter navigating a level jump. At Double-A for the season, he has posted a .323/.435/.445 line with a 9.5 percent strikeout rate across 200 plate appearances, which reads less like a small-sample blip and more like a hitter with genuine feel for the barrel translating across levels.
The full 2026 picture is equally compelling: a .310/.418/.450 line across 447 combined plate appearances with an 11.9 percent walk rate and a 14.8 percent strikeout rate, both of which represent genuine plate discipline rather than a passive approach. He is a 50 hit, 45 power catcher whose carrying tool is bat-to-ball and zone control, and the question mark on the profile has always been the defensive side, specifically whether the receiving and throwing hold up enough for him to get regular catching reps. Nothing about this week changes that calculus, but when a 23-year-old catcher moves to Double-A and posts nine hits with one strikeout in his first handful of games there, the offensive case gets considerably easier to make. His power ceiling is modest, but the floor here looks higher than his bench projection suggests.
Quick Hits
Emmanuel Rodriguez (AAA, CF, Rank: 5) · collected seven hits including a double, a triple, and a home run while drawing five walks across 26 plate appearances this week, pushing his Triple-A walk rate to 20.0 percent for the season. Over the last 30 days he is slashing .300/.451/.563 with five home runs and 20 walks against 21 strikeouts in 102 plate appearances, a stretch that puts his ceiling conversation back on firm ground. He is a 55 hit, 60 power right fielder projecting to an everyday role, and the combination of elite on-base skill and above-average raw power has shown up in the numbers all month. His season Triple-A line now reads .258/.415/.530 with 11 home runs in 195 plate appearances.
Marco Raya (AAA, RHP, Rank: 29) · threw five scoreless innings against 17 batters, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out five and generating 11 whiffs. It was his sharpest outing in a month that has otherwise been encouraging: over the last 30 days he owns a 3.14 ERA across 14.1 innings at Triple-A with 21 strikeouts and a 36.8 percent strikeout rate. His season ERA across all levels is 5.51, largely weighed down by earlier Triple-A struggles, but the whiff rate of 43.5 percent over the last 30 days and the 60-grade slider suggest the pure stuff has always been there. He profiles as a long reliever with the slider to miss bats in high-leverage spots if the command holds.
Adrian Bohorquez (AA, RHP, Rank: 37) · worked four innings at Double-A this week, allowing one hit and one earned run while walking three and striking out four, with eight swinging misses on 54 pitches. The control was uneven, but over the last 30 days at High-A he posted a 0.96 ERA across 18.2 innings with 22 strikeouts and a 31.0 percent strikeout rate. His Double-A ERA now sits at 1.00 across nine innings in two starts, and the combined 2026 ERA of 3.31 across three levels makes the walk totals the one thing standing between him and a real rotation conversation. He has the fastball and two breaking balls to project as a back-end starter if the command reaches average.
Yasser Mercedes (A+, OF, Rank: 17) · hit three home runs in 29 plate appearances this week, including his 10th, 11th, and 12th of the season at High-A, all coming in consecutive games from August 29 to September 1. He has 18 home runs combined across all levels this year and 52 stolen bases, which is a striking combination for a 21-year-old. The contact rate has been the story all year, sitting at 70.8 percent with a 29.2 percent strikeout rate at High-A, but three home runs in a week with five walks alongside them show the multi-tool flash that keeps the upside conversation alive. He projects as a quad-A risk right now, but weeks like this are why the organization keeps developing him.
Vahn Lackey (A+, C, Rank: 2) · went 3-for-25 with a double and six walks in 25 plate appearances this week, a tough stretch at the plate after a sharp run to open his High-A stint. His season line at Cedar Rapids reads .286/.512/.536 in 41 plate appearances, so the walk rate remains a consistent thread even in a slower week, and his combined 2026 on-base mark across all levels sits at .434. He is a 55 hit, 55 power catcher projecting to an All-Star ceiling, and one rough week against High-A pitching does not move the needle on a profile this strong. The swing-and-miss against better stuff is a fair question; the 31.7 percent walk rate at A+ this year is a reason to stay patient with the answer.
Carson Tinney (A, C, Rank: 6) · managed just one hit in 11 plate appearances this week, though he drew two walks and took a hit by pitch to maintain some on-base value. The slower showing comes in the middle of a strong last-30-day stretch: he is slashing .250/.426/.635 with six home runs in 68 plate appearances over that window, and his season line at Fort Myers sits at .211/.411/.535 with seven home runs in 95 plate appearances. He is a 60 raw power catcher with a below-average hit tool, and the whiff risk against better velocity is real, but the power and patience have been showing up consistently enough that one slow week is context rather than concern.