Larnach is here to 'drive the ball': Outfielder having solid rookie season for Twins - Pine Journal

“The worst,” Coburn replies. “I was aiming for the horse.”

Here is where Trevor Larnach found himself after driving in the go-ahead run in Friday night’s 4-2 victory over the Tigers. With a runner on third and left-hander Ian Krol on the mound, Larnach sent a bouncer through Detroit’s drawn-in infield to put the Twins up, 1-0, in what became a four-run sixth inning.

Larnach got the run home, but he was aiming for the horse.

“The guy threw me a slider on the outer half and I rolled it over,” Larnach said. “Yeah, it got through, it got the job done; but that’s not what I wanted to do with it.”

By his own admission, Larnach, a rookie outfielder who helped Oregon State win the College World Series in 2018, is hard on himself. The home runs are often squelched by the memory of a strikeout. When he talks about making adjustments at the plate, he doesn’t mention the pitcher.

“I’m trying to make my adjustments based on what I’m getting myself out with,” he said.

By all accounts, Larnach is having a good rookie season. He entered Saturday’s game against the Tigers at Target Field hitting .262 with a .357 on-base percentage, seven home runs and 21 RBIs in 52 games. But he expects more. The Twins, who chose him with the 20th overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft, likely do, as well.

The Twins might be more patient than the player, who with Alex Kirilloff, catcher Ryan Jeffers and pitcher Bailey Ober was one of four rookies to start for Minnesota on Saturday.

“I’m here to drive the ball, and I know I can drive the ball,” he said. “I haven’t done that exactly to the point where I’ve wanted to, but my expectations for myself some people say are unrealistic, but to me they seem realistic. So, I work toward that.”

Larnach has a good role model in Max Kepler, another young, left-handed hitting outfielder who hit 36 home runs and drove in 90 for the 2019 division winners. Larnach has bent Kepler’s ear, and seen what he does.

A few batters after Larnach’s RBI bleeder on Friday, Kepler drove a Krol breaking ball into left field for a two-run triple and a 4-0 lead.

“Kepler got the same pitch and he drove it the other way; that’s what I’m trying to do,” Larnach said. “I’m not trying to hit a ground ball and find a hole and get lucky; I’m trying to drive the ball and hit for extra bases and drive in runs.”

Catcher Mitch Garver, sidelined since getting hit in the groin by a foul tip on June 2, was behind the plate before Saturday’s game with coach Bill Evers practicing his throws to second base.

Evers told manager Rocco Baldelli that Garver remains on pace to get some rehab action next week with the Saints in St. Paul. He was batting .224 with eight doubles, eight home runs and 17 RBIs in 41 games before getting hurt.

“Mitch is meeting some thresholds here,” Baldelli said.

Prospect Josh Winder, hit near the ear by a comebacker while pitching for the Saints Wednesday in Des Moines, will make his appearances in the Futures Game on Sunday in Denver. … Designated hitter Nelson Cruz stole second base in the third inning Saturday, his fourth stolen base in 2,281 plate appearances since 2017.

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Larnach is here to 'drive the ball': Outfielder having solid rookie season for Twins - Pine Journal
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