SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Watch Kyle DeBarge and his No. 8 Twins uniform go somewhere on the diamond and two things stand out: He often looks like he just dived headlong into a puddle of mud, and everywhere he moves, he does it with maximum intensity.
“I just try to play as hard as I can every single day,” DeBarge said. “I want to have the dirtiest jersey on the field that day.”
It’s an electrifying style of play, one that the 5-foot-9 DeBarge honed during his time playing for Louisiana-Lafayette, a program that made the NCAA tournament in all three seasons he was on campus. Watch the Ragin’ Cajuns take batting practice and it turns into a glorified intrasquad game, with players diving, sliding and generally flying around every which way.
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That all-out, all-the-time manner is preached by head coach Matt Deggs, who has led the Ragin’ Cajuns’ program going back to 2019. He’s had 13 players selected in the MLB Draft since then, but DeBarge, who was a consensus All-American in 2024, has been on a different level.
“He’s the best leader I’ve ever had,” Deggs said of DeBarge, whom he went on to compare to other sub-6-foot standout hitters like Alex Bregman and Dustin Pedroia.
“The kid just has ‘it’ – whatever ‘it’ is, he just has it. Not the biggest, strongest or fastest, but by far the biggest belief and confidence internally. He knows he’s going to win at whatever he’s doing.”
“I want to win more than anybody on the field,” DeBarge said. “If I'm developing not to win in the Minor Leagues, and then you get to the big leagues and you expect to win, it's not gonna work out.”
The Twins recognized those traits and popped DeBarge with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 Draft (which they gained for losing Sonny Gray in free agency), making him the highest selection in program history. He’s moved at a one-level-per-year pace since then, spending all of the 2026 season with Double-A Wichita.
His first foray into the upper Minors was a rough go of things. He hit .221 with a .677 OPS, while his contact rate (71.7 percent) dropped more than five points from where it sat in 2025 with High-A Cedar Rapids. But even with his limited chances on base, he collected 41 steals, giving him 107 over the past two years, the most among Twins Minor Leaguers.
Despite having played in at least 120 games for the second consecutive season, the Twins tabbed DeBarge for more action in the Arizona Fall League with a simple directive: find a swing that works and get comfortable with it. It’s a limited sample size, but the returns are encouraging thus far, slashing .367/.500/.571 with seven steals across 14 games. He’s still striking out a good bit (23.4 percent) but has offset it with 12 walks and five extra-base hits.
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“He’s [found] a swing adjustment that’s a good blend of his strengths – contact, putting the ball in play – with getting the ball off the ground some and has found a good balance and repeatable swing,” said Drew MacPhail, the Twins’ director of player development, of DeBarge to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach. “We’re feeling really good about where he’s at.”
The jury is still out on whether things can come together with an elevated consistency for DeBarge offensively, but where his bona fides are, without question, is his defense.
Named the 2025 Minor League Gold Glove Award winner at second base, DeBarge has taken that elite mitt and brought it all around the field. He also made starts at shortstop, third base and left field with Double-A Wichita this summer and has seen considerable time in center field with Salt River, fitting that utility mold that Twins manager Derek Shelton employed with multiple players throughout ‘26.
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“I like the fun aspect of it,” DeBarge said of being a defensive Swiss Army knife. “It’s difficult, but I think it's gonna help me in the long run, especially if it could help [me] get to the big leagues and then to stay in the big leagues.”
Because ultimately, the big leagues are where everyone wants to wind up. But don’t expect DeBarge to sacrifice his playing style just to get there.
“If I'm going to blow out – because injuries happen – I'm gonna blow out going 110 percent,” he said. “Not half-assing.”