'Driven to be great,' Larnach a model of consistency

MINNEAPOLIS -- Most players crisscrossed the home clubhouse at Target Field following Monday’s game, as they typically do, hopping into the showers, reuniting with their wives and children or perhaps grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading home.

But even 20 minutes after the game had ended, Trevor Larnach still carried the same intensity he had during the game -- and he was even still in full uniform, brow furrowed as he stared at video on a tablet while sitting on a couch in the batting cage with hitting coaches David Popkins and Derek Shomon.

The Twins’ left fielder had just extended his on-base streak to a career-long 10 games with his fourth-inning RBI single off White Sox ace Dylan Cease, Minnesota’s only run-scoring hit in a 4-3 loss. But Larnach’s early-season successes were far less important to him than the times he didn’t come through -- and the work he’d have to do to maintain this productivity.

"It's 10 games; [I] take it with a grain of salt,” Larnach said. “For me, this game is always adjusting on me, and I need to adjust continuously.”

His team hasn’t been able to take that production with a grain of salt, though, and they’ve had to rely heavily on it for their early-season offense. Not only is Larnach the only Twins player to reach base in all 10 games Minnesota has played this season, but he’s also its leader in hits (12), walks (seven) and on-base percentage (.413).

This level of early success wasn’t a given for Larnach, considering he’s had two consecutive seasons cut short by lingering injuries -- and, in fact, his presence on the Opening Day roster wasn’t a given, either.

With the Twins’ efforts to add depth on both sides of the ball this offseason, Larnach knew in camp that there was a chance he’d be left off the roster altogether. But lingering injury issues with Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff -- coupled with another strong spring -- carried Larnach onto the roster. Not only was he on the roster, he was hitting cleanup on Opening Day.

“He’s driven to be great, and I think he sees this as an opportunity to go prove that and show everyone what he can do,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Amid a lackluster team offensive performance on Monday driven mostly by Chicago defensive miscues, Larnach was the only one to knock a hit with runners in scoring position, as he did when he stayed back on a 1-1 curveball from Cease and lined it to right-center for an RBI single.

That’s actually been unusual for Larnach, as he entered the game having collected nine of his 11 hits this season on fastballs, his strength -- despite having seen the fewest fastballs among any hitter in baseball to see at least 150 pitches this season. He’s been pitched that way since he entered the league, but his preparation and anticipation have allowed him to hone in and do damage on his pitches.

“I like to just be ready for it, simply,” Larnach said. “I love hitting fastballs. I think that's why they don't throw me fastballs. But if I can be on time for that and still expect offspeed, then that's a good position to be in.”

But on Monday, Larnach only got two fastballs to swing at -- and he fouled them both off. (He took three others for balls.) That’s why he had to hone in on the curveball from Cease and continue expanding that skillset, the “game of tug-of-war” within baseball, as he called it.

“I’d say most good hitters are good fastball hitters,” Baldelli said. “That’s generally something they’re looking to do and pounce on. That’s really the question: How do you not get off of it, yet still lay off the tough breaking balls and things like that? I don’t know how they do it, because most people can’t do it. But he can.”

The Twins have had to lean heavily on Larnach, particularly on a day like Monday during which Byron Buxton had a day off, Carlos Correa was sidelined by back tightness and Joey Gallo remained on the mend from right side tightness, which put a tremendous amount of reliance on Larnach and Jose Miranda in the top two lineup spots.

And Larnach is hungry for more.

“I've been missing pitches the last couple of days, two or three days, so [I'm] trying to hone in on that and not miss so I can help the team out even more,” he said.