Kirilloff and Larnach

[Taildragger8791]

Larnach's last month he's hitting .230/.292/.402 with a 38% K-rate. He's been particularly bad against LH pitching all year. Kirilloff has been getting better as the season goes on (and as the wrist injury gets further in the rear view mirror). He's better against lefties than righties so far and seems to be the more consistent hitter. I'm partial to guys who naturally get the bat to the ball like he does.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Revisiting this topic at the All-Star break. In nearly the same number of plate appearances, their OPS are separated by 10 points. Larnach had a brutal series versus Detroit, but still is above average as a hitter. Including his weekend snag, he has struck out 69 times, almost a third of the time. He walks more than Kirilloff, but his on-base is lifted most by the six HBP he has had in 210 plate appearances. I think Larnach will be fine, but if a couple of outfielders are activated, I wonder if the Twins might send him down. 

Both Kirilloff and Larnach both made outstanding defensive plays yesterday. It is nice to see them play well in the field. The Twins don't need more players whose best position is DH

 

 

I really hope sending him down isn't the move they make. AAA has a number of very good pitchers, but it looks more to me like his struggles come from well placed breaking stuff and MLB pitchers being better at showing him hard high, soft low. With the season lost I'd hope they give him a chance to work on that at the major league level as he won't face as many AAA pitchers who can spot their stuff with as much consistency. I think he's ready for the majors, but now the "adjustment to the adjustment to the adjustment" starts. Let him make the adjustments at the big league level during a lost season.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I agree. Larnach's current struggles are all part of the natural order of things for a young hitter in his first taste of MLB pitching. He hit well when he first came up, and pitchers have adjusted by throwing him a lot of breaking stuff away and hard stuff up in the zone. These are the two natural weak spots for left-handed hitters. Now it's up to him to adjust so that he can lay off pitches out of the zone, hit the breaking stuff on the outer half to left field, and get on top of the high hard stuff. By all reports, he is a hard-working guy who is pretty obsessive about his craft. Now is not the time to send him down. Work with him over the break and keep him in the lineup for the next three or four weeks at least. We can take some pressure off by maybe moving him back to the 5 or 7 spot, with Kiriloff hitting 3 and maybe Kepler hitting 5 if he continues to hit (always a question with Kepler). I wouldn't send Larnach down unless he continues to really struggle over the next at least three weeks.

This season is all about development, development, and more development. That is done best at the MLB level if the player has the tools and experience to possibly survive and learn at the MLB level. I think Larnach and Kiriloff both have the necessary tools and experience to survive at this level. We are just going to have to get used to slumps from both of them as they learn their craft. I strongly believe the best thing we could do for those two is get them 450+ plate appearances this season at the MLB level. I also think if we do that we will have two solid left-handed hitters that we can pencil in somewhere between the number 3 and number 6 spots on everyday basis on a hopefully contending team next year. That is what this year should be about for the next 2 1/2 months. Same thing goes for the young pitchers but that's for a different thread.

[Brock Beauchamp]

28 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I really hope sending him down isn't the move they make. AAA has a number of very good pitchers, but it looks more to me like his struggles come from well placed breaking stuff and MLB pitchers being better at showing him hard high, soft low. With the season lost I'd hope they give him a chance to work on that at the major league level as he won't face as many AAA pitchers who can spot their stuff with as much consistency. I think he's ready for the majors, but now the "adjustment to the adjustment to the adjustment" starts. Let him make the adjustments at the big league level during a lost season.

Yeah, he'd have to OPS .400 for a month before I'd even *consider* sending him back to St Paul.

[Vanimal46]

I recall Kaat pointing out on the broadcast Kirilloff’s swing is much shorter and compact compared to Larnach. Hopefully they can learn from each other so Larnach prevents extended slumps in the future.