So what’s the equivalent of Loch Ness to Nessie here? Larnach… Lar Nach… Lar…Nachos? Nachos! I say we have a winner, because, you know, FOOD. And food that’s specifically nachos, well, you just can’t go wrong. Now that his problem has been efficiently solved, we can now spend our time together taking a look at platooner (which also sounds like a pirate profession) Trevor Larnach and what the rest of the season might look like for this right fielder. But why Trevor Larnach? An existential question if there ever was one (it isn’t), Larnach represents what is perhaps a true under-the-radar option with generally low ownership-rates across the board. And while there are legitimate reasons for this that we’ll delve into below, producing a .361 OBP while sustaining a solid .262 AVG to go along with seven homeruns is not nothing and could perhaps be the beginning of something. What the something is? Find out after the jump! (Who brought the nachos. I have no nachos. Sadness abound.)
Yeah, I actually typed out sadness abound. But beyond that eclectic sequencing, I also typed out that Trevor Larnach might be something, because being vague is vogue. I dunno, it sounded cool in my head. But let’s talk about who he is right now, and as I alluded to above, Larnach has found himself mainly seeing primary at-bats against right-handed pitchers as he himself (Spoiler Alert!) is a left-handed hitter. As of this writing, he has managed 139 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers and just 52 against southpaws. While this is a common occurrence, lefty power-hitters put into match-up efficiency, I’m not so sure this type of handicap will be locked in permanently. As one of my favorite players back in the day, I reference Klesko a lot when thinking about platoon players, and you could kind of see the raw similarities here. Big guys (Larnach is 6’4″ and 230 lbs), outfields, and both with a savvy sense of the plate with power. With Klesko, the TL;DR is basically he was a promising and young player that got stuck in a platoon, and then one year was traded to the Padres along with Bret Boone and he was given mostly free reign against left-handers, sans some of the elite ones of their time, ala Randy Johnson.
Perhaps an old school reference and a lesson to boot, Klesko was never dominant against southpaws, nor did he even change that much over his career, but the one thing he wasn’t against them was terrible. He generally held his own, and what nominally needs to happen here is that Larnach needs at-bats and at-bats against left-handers. And we’d be hard-pressed to project what might actually happen if he got those at-bats because all we have is this year’s numbers. Or do we?
That’s right folks, we going back in time (Huey Lewis cadence!) to check out the only other place where stats in his career exist, and that’s the Minor Leagues. And you may say “Wait Jay, why you do this? It’s the MiLB, these stats don’t mean much!” to which I would say “Yes, this is not a controversial statement!” to which hopefully we would then find some nachos and then eat them together. I know, I’m hungry. But the point remains, yes, I wouldn’t normally rely on Minor League stats to tell me anything, but my sense here is that we can at least try to take a look and see if any of these platoon issues existed at a persistent basis.
And, back in 2018, yes, he was treated as such; seeing just 31 PA against LHP as opposed to 128 against RHP, though in the limited time against left-handers, he didn’t struggle all that much hitting a pretty nominal .292/.419/.417 triple-slash in a small sample size environment. Things didn’t change much from there, as moving into 2019, he was treated as the same platoon hitter, but it should be noted Larnach went from 31 PA the year previously to 119 PA, and did so still producing acceptable numbers against LHP with a .286/.338/.403 line. While this probably isn’t dispositive that he can hit lefties or should, at least we have something rather than nothing to show that he has done so in the past and not been terrible at it. You take what you can get.
And so it goes, Larnach most likely serves as a potential cautionary tale… but most certainly not a lost cause. It’s not everyday I pu-pu on my own platter, but the truth of the matter is, a lot of his potential value is tied into an occurrence that might not even happen, and that’s more everyday at-bats. And while I think it’s always best to let hitters prove you right or wrong first, i.e. let the kid go full HAM at the plate and see what happens, it does seem as though the Twins already know what they have and what they want, and I guess it’s their own version of C.J. Cron, or maybe a Nate Lowe.
There is some glimmer of hope, Larnach continues to produce when in the starting lineup, and despite the incredible size, has a strong arm and shown at least average range to not be a liability in the OF, a good foundation for future playing time. Keep also in mind that his platoon partner, Kyle Garlick, isn’t doing so hot either, generating just a paltry .232/.280/.465 triple slash.
Beyond that, if you need power and power that won’t come at the cost of any ratio-stats and have the roster spot to give, it’s not a bad idea. While he may not be the next Ryan Klesko, he certainly contributes in all the right places, and you never know. If the Twins start believing he can handle southpaws, or has at least earned the right to try, you might have a bet that didn’t end up nachos bad after all…
I’m sorry.
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell. You can follow him on Twitter @jaywrong.
