Monday, September 14

DETROIT – It’s kind of a wonder that Trevor Larnach is still a Twin.

He was a candidate to be non-tendered last winter. He came even closer to finding himself with a different address at the Trade Deadline, when reports indicated that a trade to Houston was nixed at the last moment. Here Larnach is, though, enjoying arguably the best season of his Major League career, playing the outfield regularly and producing at the plate.

He’s withstood multiple challenges to his playing time as well as that near-trade, and is playing just about every day once again as the season draws to a close. Larnach has topped 100 games in the outfield for the first time and has played defense at basically a league average level according to Statcast, all while posting the second highest on-base percentage of any Twins player with at least 400 plate appearances.

“It's huge for me,” he said. “I put so much work in the offseason to be the best version of myself on the field. And what I mean by that is, I didn't work on [just] hitting the entire offseason. I worked on my throwing, my running, everything, just in hopes of the chance that I get to play the outfield, because over the past few years, there's been inconsistency with playing out there. There's been a lot of games where, more often than not, I’m DHing, and I've never viewed myself as just a [designated hitter]. So, I really do tip my cap off to [manager Derek Shelton] and the staff, because they gave me that opportunity.”

Larnach has a bit of an unusual presence in the clubhouse. He’s quiet, thoughtful, and extremely process-driven and routine-oriented even among baseball players – generally a process-driven and routine-oriented group. He doesn’t say a lot, but when he speaks, you can generally assume he has something interesting to say.

Outwardly he maintains a very even keel, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get mad or excited. He’s just better at handling those ups and downs than he was earlier in his career.

His August is an excellent example of that. After a brilliant first half at the plate, his numbers took a significant downturn following the Trade Deadline. But Larnach didn’t spiral, and even though he says he’s still not back exactly where he wants to be at the plate, he’s put up solid numbers in September.

“Over a period of a career,” he said, “when you fall into enough little ruts like that, you kind of start to learn, like, OK, there's anger, and ... sadness, whatever you want to call it, but you can't really listen to it, because it's just, it's there. And at some point, your emotions and time is just going to move on, and how do you want to look back and say you handled it?”

It’s that equanimity that’s part of how he’s handled the uncertainty of the past 12 months so well. Shelton has repeatedly said that if any player is equipped to handle something like what happened at the Deadline, it’s Larnach. He blocks out the noise and does his job, sticking to his routine and showing the same face every day.

But that mindset doesn’t just come naturally. It takes work. It takes commitment, and Larnach has made that commitment.

“Experience does contribute to the maturation, but there is a bit of learning you’ve got to do, too,” he said. “At least from my end, I had to learn how to be the player I wanted to be. And through all that, you meet people, and you work on things that you’re weak at, or that you need improvement at. It's one thing to go through all that, but it's another thing to look at those obstacles and say, 'OK, what am I doing wrong? And then, how can I assess, how can I attack those obstacles?'”

It’s been an odd last couple of appearances for Connor Prielipp, but he’s adjusting well. The Twins are working hard to manage the rookie’s workload, given that he has almost as many innings this year between the Majors and Minors (126 2/3) as in the previous six years combined between college and pro ball (140 2/3).

That means that on Sept. 1, he pitched behind an opener, going five scoreless innings. Then on Monday, he pitched in a piggyback situation, going four innings after Joe Ryan pitched four in his return from the injured list. What’s next for Prielipp is to be determined, but it’s possible he could make more appearances not as a starter, even if his long-term outlook appears to be in the rotation.

“The one thing we’ve talked about with Connor is we’ve given him, eight days at one point, nine days at one point, just because of the workload that he’s had,” Shelton said. “And then we’ll kind of see from there what we think is most advantageous for him to finish the season strong.”

I can’t come to Detroit without tipping my cap to one of the most titanic musical legacies of any city in the world. Y’all be kind and look out for each other, OK?

• Bob Seger, “Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser” (oh yeah, we’re going with the Live Bullet version) 
• The White Stripes, “Icky Thump”
• Stevie Wonder, “I Wish”
• The Stooges, “Search and Destroy”
• Aretha Franklin, “Chain of Fools”

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