Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 45 | Arm: 50 | Field: 45 | Overall: 40

In four of the last six Drafts, Hawaii has seen a high schooler get drafted in the top five rounds, headlined by 2014 first-round pick Kodi Medeiros. Rosario, who showed off his right-handed bat over last summer at events like the Area Code Games, gives the island state the chance to make it 5-for-7.

All talk around Rosario centers around his bat, more specifically his plus-plus raw power. Rosario beat fellow Draft prospect Blaze Jordan in the Area Code Games home run derby last summer. He can get a little pull-happy and out front on his swing at times, and there are some concerns about his ability to hit enough to get to that raw pop consistently in games at the next level.

Rosario is a decent athlete, and he does play center field in high school, but as a tick-below-average runner who is already fairly physically mature, he is likely going to be limited to a corner, with left field his likely destination. He does have the power potential to profile well in an outfield corner, and that could be enough for the California Baptist recruit to get drafted.

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 50 | Run: 45 | Arm: 55 | Field: 45 | Overall: 40

There have been just two Hawaiian prep hitters who signed out of high school to go on and make any real impact in the big leagues: Shane Victorino, a 1999 sixth-round pick, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who went in the fourth round in 2013. Rosario is hoping he can join that short list after the Twins took him with their final pick in the shortened 2020 Draft and has moved one rung at a time. He's gone from the Florida Complex League in 2021 to Single-A Fort Myers in 2022 and then on to High-A last year, when he had his most productive year to date, earning Midwest League MVP honors. He finished off 2023 by tying for the Arizona Fall League lead in home runs.

The Twins’ patience with Rosario’s development appears to be paying off. He made a big adjustment with his setup at the end of 2022 and it really clicked in 2023, using a spread out base to cut down his movement, recognizing he didn’t need to do that much to tap into his natural strength and raw power. He also cut down on his chase rate and drew a lot more walks as his overall approach improved, helping him to lead the Midwest League in homers. While he did a really good job at punishing fastballs, he still missed breaking stuff at a pretty high clip, his front hip can leak out early, leading to struggles with pitches away, and he’s still learning to be adjustable with his swing.

Now a corner outfielder only, Rosario has shown off an accurate arm that racked up 14 assists with Cedar Rapids. Upper level pitching will be the next challenge, but he seems to make improvements at each step as well as anyone in the system and could very well profile well as a power-hitting right fielder in the big leagues.

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 45 | Arm: 50 | Field: 45 | Overall: 45

Rosario put himself on the map as an amateur on the summer showcase circuit in 2019 and emerged as the top player from Hawaii in the 2020 Draft class. The Twins only had four picks in the pandemic-shortened class and took the high school outfielder with their last selection, in the fifth round. After a solid pro debut in the Florida Complex League in 2021, he showed some offensive tools, and some things to work on approach-wise, in his full-season debut in 2022. A strong finish to that season has carried over to a move up to High-A in 2023.

The Twins knew it might take some time for Rosario’s production to catch up to his potential offensively. He hit .293 with a .383 on base percentage from August on last year and the improvements he made with his approach have continued with Cedar Rapids. He surpassed his season walk total from 2022 by the end of June, and while there is still a good amount of swing-and-miss to his game, he was decreasing his strikeout rate. With better counts and swing decisions, he’s been able to tap into his easily plus raw power more consistently and had matched his season home run total from the year prior by late June.

A center fielder in high school, Rosario and his fringy speed have been playing the outfield corners exclusively as a pro. He’s done a nice job of throwing out runners and if his maturity as a hitter continues, it’s looking like he might tap into his power enough to profile well there as he continues to move up the ladder.

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 45 | Arm: 50 | Field: 45 | Overall: 40

The best talent from Hawaii in the 2020 Draft class, Rosario showed off his right-handed bat at summer events like the Area Code Games in 2019 and landed on the MLB Pipeline Draft Top 200 for his class. The Twins took him with their last pick in the fifth round of the truncated 2020 Draft and he had a solid pro debut in the Florida Complex League in 2021.

All talk around Rosario centers around his bat, more specifically his plus-plus raw power. Rosario beat fellow Draft classmate Blaze Jordan in the Area Code Games home run derby in 2019. He can get a little pull-happy and out front on his swing at times, and there are some concerns about his ability to hit enough to get to that raw pop consistently in games as he moves up the ladder. While he did slug a respectable .452 during his pro debut, he also recorded a 31.7 percent strikeout rate.

Rosario is a decent athlete, and he did play center field in high school, but as a tick-below-average runner who is already fairly physically mature, he’s already moved to the corners as a pro. He does have the power potential to profile well in an outfield corner if he can refine his approach enough to keep getting to that pop.

Awards

MiLB.com Organization All-Star

Year	Team
2023

AFL Rising Stars

Year	Team
2023

MID Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2023

MID Most Valuable Player

Year	Team
2023

FSL Player of the Week

Week	Team
09/04/2022

FCL Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2021

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	09/25/2024	RF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Salt River Rafters.
	08/30/2024	Wichita Wind Surge activated OF Kala'i Rosario from the 60-day injured list.
	08/27/2024	Wichita Wind Surge sent OF Kala'i Rosario on a rehab assignment to Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
	06/13/2024	Wichita Wind Surge transferred OF Kala'i Rosario from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
	06/12/2024	Wichita Wind Surge placed OF Kala'i Rosario on the 7-day injured list.
	04/02/2024	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Wichita Wind Surge.
	03/07/2024	Minnesota Twins Prospects activated OF Kala'i Rosario.
	02/26/2024	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Minnesota Twins.
	02/26/2024	OF Kala'i Rosario roster status changed by Minnesota Twins.
	11/03/2023	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to American League Fall Stars.
	09/22/2023	Glendale Desert Dogs activated OF Kala'i Rosario.
	04/03/2023	Cedar Rapids Kernels activated OF Kala'i Rosario.
	04/03/2023	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels.
	02/25/2023	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Minnesota Twins.
	02/25/2023	OF Kala'i Rosario roster status changed by Minnesota Twins.
	04/05/2022	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Fort Myers Mighty Mussels from Twins Organization.
	04/04/2022	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Minnesota Twins.
	04/04/2022	OF Kala'i Rosario roster status changed by Minnesota Twins.
	10/07/2021	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to Twins Organization.
	07/06/2020	OF Kala'i Rosario assigned to GCL Twins.
	07/01/2020	Minnesota Twins signed OF Kala'i Rosario.