Khadim Diaw’s season has a strange split to it. On the surface, the stolen-base numbers are hard to miss: 123 steals allowed, only 10 runners thrown out, and an eight-percent caught-stealing rate. That’s not the kind of line that makes a catcher’s defensive case for him.
And yet, inside the Twins organization, the view is much more optimistic.
On a recent episode of Inside Twins, Twins Director of Player Development Drew MacPhail said Diaw has taken a real step forward behind the plate this year.
“He’s made even more strides defensively,” MacPhail said. “He came in pretty raw and he’s grading now as one of our best receivers in the system.”
That’s a meaningful shift for a player who entered pro ball with plenty of offensive intrigue but plenty of defensive polishing still ahead of him. The Twins selected Diaw in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft, and from the start, his athleticism stood out. He moves well for a catcher and has enough versatility to spend time in the outfield, but Minnesota has kept the focus squarely on him as a backstop.
A big part of that work has centered on his arm.
“I think a big thing as well has been working on his arm strength,” MacPhail said. “He’s done a really nice job of that with both our pitching coordinator and our catching coordinator, Tucker Frawley, to being on an offseason program to work on his arm strength.”
The running game still shows there’s more to do, but catching is bigger than controlling steal attempts. Framing, presentation, blocking, preparation and the ability to work with a pitching staff all matter too, and Diaw appears to be moving in the right direction in those areas.
The bat, meanwhile, has kept humming.
Diaw opened the 2026 season with High-A Cedar Rapids and hit .300/.405/.454 with an .859 OPS and a 127 wRC+, enough to earn a bump to Wichita. The jump to Double-A didn’t slow him down much. In his first 40 games with the Wind Surge, he hit .312/.432/.422 and posted a 128 wRC+ in one of the toughest environments in his career so far.
Double-A Wichita hitting coach Andrew Cresci liked what he saw from Diaw’s work habits.
“Double-A is probably the biggest jump they'll make until they go to the big leagues, just in terms of the quality of the pitching,” Cresci said. “He did an excellent job.
The guy is a perfectionist in his attention to detail. I can definitely appreciate his work in the cage and his preparation.”
Diaw’s strike-zone control has been a big part of the offensive story. He walked 23 times and struck out only 18 times, a strong ratio for a young catcher facing Double-A pitching. He already showed that kind of patience in 2025, when he posted an 11.8% walk rate, and that ability to get on base has carried over.
He’s also been hit by pitches a lot. Diaw was plunked 18 times in his first full professional season, and through 98 games in 2026 he has already been hit 19 times, including 11 times at Double-A. Some of that comes with the territory for a hitter who works deep counts and leans into his approach, but the bigger point is simple: when Diaw is healthy and in the lineup, he has produced.
There’s still a power question here, though. Diaw has always looked more like a hit-over-power player, built around contact and strike-zone control rather than trying to launch everything.
Even so, the Twins have seen signs that more pop could be coming. He made swing changes during his second professional season, including adjustments aimed at unlocking more pull-side power, and his Pull% has increased by 6.4% this season.
The power output has backed up a bit since his move to Double-A, with his slugging percentage dropping 30 points, but there have been encouraging flashes. Diaw put together a 17-game hit streak from July 11 to August 8, the longest in the Texas League this season.
During that run, he hit .373 (25-for-67) with 12 runs scored, 2 home runs and 6 RBI. He also finished one game shy of the franchise record for the longest streak.
That’s the shape of Diaw’s appeal right now: a catcher who can hit for average, take walks, avoid strikeouts and keep reaching base, with enough offensive growth potential to become more than just a contact bat. The Twins are clearly betting that the defensive side will keep catching up.
There are still questions. The stolen bases allowed are real, the arm still needs more work, and the power remains something closer to projection than proof. But the direction is changing.
Diaw arrived as an athletic catcher with an advanced approach at the plate and plenty of defensive development ahead of him. Now, the Twins say he’s become one of their better receivers. If the work behind the plate keeps tracking with what he’s already doing offensively, Minnesota may have more than catching depth on its hands.
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