Alex Kirilloff was the Twins first round draft pick in 2016.
When the new front office took over, they went with Royce Lewis the next year,
and then followed up with Trevor Larnach. Since that point I’ve contended the
separation between Kirilloff and Larnach shouldn’t have been presumed to be
much. We’re now seeing that take shape.
Kirilloff is playing through an injury, and while he’s
having himself a nice debut, I don’t think it’s quite to the level he’ll reach
in short order. That’s given way for Larnach to shine though, and he’s done exactly
that. Trevor was thrust into a Major League role given the Twins outfield
health issues. Having played just three games at Triple-A, and only 43 at
Double-A two years ago, a premature call-up is probably fair to suggest.
Despite taking some time to acclimate, he’s begun to settle
in. Now with 31 games under his belt, the former Oregon State Beaver owns a .263/.386/.421
slash line. The .807 OPS isn’t all that noteworthy, but the 131 OPS+ plays, and
the number that jumps off the page is the .386 OBP backed by a strong 33/14
K/BB.
Larnach hasn’t yet ran into much power. He has just nine
extra base hits, of which only three have left the yard. That isn’t to suggest
the process isn’t sound, though. Drafted with notes of high exit velocities,
that has played out at the highest level. Larnach owns a 37.1% hard hit rate
and a 14.5% barrel rate. His xSLG sits 40 points higher at .466 and he owns a
max exit velo of 116 mph.
I don’t think you’ll find anyone jumping to suggest that
Larnach is otherworldly on either of the corners, but it’s more than apparent
he can stick. With the bat profile he has, a traditional corner outfielder with
pop is exactly what he’s trending towards. This isn’t a finished product by any
means, but I think the Twins have to be thrilled with the early returns.
Both Larnach and Kirilloff should be mainstays in the
Minnesota lineup for years to come. We have seen both of them bat in the heart
of the order this year, and while that’s more reflective of circumstance, they’ve
held their own plenty. In lieu of so many injuries having piled up on the Twins
this season, it’s been nice to see opportunity parlayed into production for a
guy like Larnach.
Not every prospect comes up and flourishes. The Seattle
Mariners just had to demote top prospect Jarred Kelenic after a terrible start.
Baseball is hard, and even moreso when the runway for readiness hasn’t been
there in a traditional sense. Give it to Larnach for battling that adversity
and still producing at the level he is.
While Kirilloff is still my pick to be the better player
with a more likely shot to win a batting title, I wouldn’t be shocked to see
Larnach round out into a more complete specimen with an opportunity to bang 40
homers in a single season. It’s been a good start, and this is just the
beginning.
