Headlines

  • Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim
  • Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon
  • Brandon Woodruff To Start For Brewers On Sunday
  • Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds
  • Rangers Option Josh Jung
  • Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Twins Option Trevor Larnach

By Anthony Franco | August 16, 2021 at 6:45pm CDT

The Twins announced this evening they’ve optioned corner outfielder Trevor Larnach to Triple-A St. Paul. Utilityman Nick Gordon has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Minnesota selected Larnach to the big leagues in early May. A 2018 first-round pick, Larnach rose rather quickly through the minors with huge performances up through Double-A. Along the way, he cemented himself as one of the Twins’ most promising prospects — and indeed, as one of the top farmhands in the sport. Entering the year, Baseball America placed Larnach inside the game’s top 40 minor league talents.

The hope was that Larnach and/or fellow top prospect Alex Kirilloff would hit the ground running to cement themselves as potential everyday options alongside Byron Buxton and Max Kepler in the Minnesota outfield. Neither player has yet tapped into their considerable offensive upside, though. Kirilloff hit .251/.299/.423 over 231 plate appearances before suffering a season-ending wrist injury. Larnach has stayed healthy, but he’s hit at a below-average level (.223/.322/.350) for the first time in his professional career. He started the season well, but Larnach’s been mired in a dreadful slump of late, with just two multi-hit games since July 5.

To his credit, Larnach has continued to show plenty of patience at the plate this season, as he did throughout his minor league tenure. The 24-year-old has walked in a quality 10.3% of his plate appearances, swinging at a lower-than-average 28% of pitches outside the strike zone while attacking pitches in the zone at a near average rate. While Larnach hasn’t chased much, he’s simply made too little contact when he has swung. His 62.9% contact rate is the third-lowest mark (above only Mike Zunino’s and Javier Báez’s) among the 228 hitters with 250+ plate appearances this season. That’s led to a massive 34.6% strikeout rate that’s fourth-highest (lower only than Zunino’s, Bobby Dalbec’s and Báez’s) in that group.

While Zunino and Báez have offset their huge strikeout totals with huge power and plus defense, Larnach hasn’t offered that sort of complementary production. He’s always been seen as a bat-first prospect, so the lack of defensive value isn’t a surprise. But Larnach has hit just seven home runs in 301 plate appearances and has a below-average .127 isolated power (slugging minus batting average).

He’s hit the ball solidly, but it hasn’t been the elite contact quality necessary to succeed with a strikeout rate at its current level. According to Statcast, Larnach has made hard contact (defined as an exit velocity of 95 MPH or higher) on 41.1% of his batted balls. That’s above the 35.5% league average, but it’s not at the level of Zunino (48.9%) or Báez (45.6%). Similarly, Larnach’s average exit velocity and barrel rate are right around the 60th percentiles. Zunino has an 89th percentile average exit velocity and a 100th percentile barrel rate, while Báez sits in the 72nd and 86th percentiles in those respective metrics.

More simply put, hitters with that kind of swing-and-miss need to be among the best in the league at driving the ball when they do make contact. Larnach has been above-average but not elite in that regard.

Obviously, Larnach’s first crack at the majors hasn’t gone as he or the organization would’ve hoped. That said, it’s much too early to write off the possibility of him figuring things out. He’s a career .306/.384/.473 hitter in the minors, where his strikeout rate is a far more manageable 21.8%. And he was making the jump to the majors this year with essentially no Triple-A experience. Last year’s canceled minor league season — coupled with the delayed start to the 2021 minors campaign — has kept Larnach to all of three career games at that level.

He’ll head to St. Paul for what’ll presumably be a more extended Triple-A run. If he performs at anything close to his level up through Double-A, he figures to get another look in the big leagues at some point soon. The Twins are playing out the stretch on a disappointing season, and they’re certainly holding out hope Larnach can contribute to a 2022 team they’re expecting to compete in the AL Central.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Minnesota Twins Trevor Larnach

Red Sox Release Marwin Gonzalez
Main
Pirates Designate John Nogowski For Assignment
View Comments (15)
Post a Comment

15 Comments

  1. The Baseball Fan

    4 years ago

    Twins just need to rebuild. I don’t see them catching the White Sox, rising Tigers and maybe even Royals or Indians next year

    3
    Reply
    • The Baseball Fan

      4 years ago

      Maybe even a retool would work but they need to think more about the future

      2
      Reply
    • oldmansteve

      4 years ago

      I still think they have one more year before they rebuild. Maeda, Kepler, Polanco, Donaldson all reach FA after 2023. Sano and Buxton after next season. If its a repeat of 2021 in 2022, I can see them selling those guys in a full rebuild.

      1
      Reply
    • Comrade Tipsy McStagger

      4 years ago

      They have a two-year window, possibly longer. Of course, if they tank against next year, then all bets are off and they may indeed go for a full rebuild.

      Reply
  2. JoshHolt32

    4 years ago

    Went to a twins game this year for the 1st time what a great stadium and just overall atmosphere I was impressed – hope the twins can compete again soon it’s an underestimated baseball market IMO

    3
    Reply
  3. NativeAmerican

    4 years ago

    They should have traded Sano for a bag of used balls.

    1
    Reply
    • Bdd1967

      4 years ago

      Or just the bag…

      Reply
  4. martras

    4 years ago

    Rough year for Larnach, but hopefully he can figure things out at AAA. Without any defensive value, he’s going to need to rake to stay in MLB.

    1
    Reply
  5. Bi Soxual

    4 years ago

    The hole in Larnach’s swing should of been fixed before any call up.For a lefty to have that problem to this degree is unusual,another clear example the grade on prospects is completely flawed.

    Reply
    • srsbryzness

      4 years ago

      1) The Twins needed an OF and Larnach was chosen because he had raked in the minors through 2019 due to his top prospect status.

      2) He started out well and then was struggling over the past month or so.

      3) The Twins hoped he could adjust and figure it out. He didn’t.

      4) By your suggestion, tons of minor leaguers would never make it out of the minors if they were required to fix the holes in their swings first.

      5) Larnach still has time to live up to his top prospect status .He’s had 300 PA in the majors, give him time.

      2
      Reply
  6. stymeedone

    4 years ago

    Nothing worse than seeing a player, who did major damage to your favorite team (Det), be sent down because he only did those things when playing them! I watched him in a couple games against other teams and immediately thought he as not a major league OF, and then watched him play gold glove like against Detroit. Hope he starts beating up some other team(s) when he returns.

    Reply
  7. srsbryzness

    4 years ago

    With all due respect, is Nick Gordon relevant to this transaction at all? There are 8 paragraphs on Larnach and literally nothing on Gordon beyond his name and role. I get that Larnach is a top prospect and has spent the majority of the season in the majors and thus is more noteworthy, but it’s not good writing to completely ignore the other half of the swap, even if Gordon is an up-and-down utility guy. I mean, not even a single one of Gordon’s stats was mentioned!

    Reply
    • Ham Fighter

      4 years ago

      It’s very Gordon-Strange they didn’t mention him…

      1
      Reply
    • piratesanddbacksfan

      4 years ago

      Nick Gordon could be part of the Twins plans if the can just commit to giving him an extended chance – don’t think anyone seen enough of Gordon to completely decide if he has a part on future twins teams or not think Dee is the only one doing the Strange- Gordon thing ?

      Reply
  8. GarryHarris

    4 years ago

    I don’t know what happened to the Twins this season. They were so much better than their record indicates.

    I don’t think they need to rebuild because this IS what they rebuilt into. Perhaps the issues is that both the Twins and the Royals rebuilt their teams around position players without addressing pitching. The Twins have a CL and some bullpen pieces. The Royals have even less.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Brandon Woodruff To Start For Brewers On Sunday

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Recent

    Padres Seeking Upgrades At Catcher

    Tayler Scott Elects Free Agency

    Rays Outright Forrest Whitley

    White Sox To Recall Colson Montgomery For MLB Debut

    Giants Select Sergio Alcantara

    Max Muncy Expects To Miss Around Six Weeks With Bone Bruise

    Mets To Sign Zach Pop To Major League Contract

    Dodgers Claim CJ Alexander, Designate Steward Berroa For Assignment

    Colten Brewer Opts Out Of Yankees Deal

    Royals Sign Michael Fulmer To Minor League Deal

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version