Larnach helps Saints to 11-3 victory over Indianapolis after surprise demotion

There has been widespread speculation swirling around the Minnesota Twins since they sent Trevor Larnach to the St. Paul Saints over the weekend that the 26-year-old outfielder was not happy with the demotion.

Larnach confirmed that speculation on Tuesday night after making his season debut with the Saints at CHS Field, expressing disappointment while also acknowledging that he was surprised by the move.

“Absolutely, I was surprised,” he said. “I had my struggles there towards the end, but that’s the game. Especially the first month of the season. It’s cold, the ball doesn’t go out, some results aren’t what they should be. There’s not much I can do about it.

“A lot of my family was pretty upset. I got a lot of support from teammates and staff members. At the end of the day, I can’t control what happened; that’s the route they wanted to take.”

Larnach was hitting .221 with three home runs and a team-leading 19 RBIs when he was sent down. His place on the roster was taken by Alex Kirilloff, who completed his rehab assignment with the Saints. While Larnach’s batting average was low, it was better than that of Carlos Correa, Joey Gallo, Jose Miranda and Nick Gordon, among others.

“At the end of the day, I think I would have had to play perfectly to stay there,” Larnach said. “In this game that’s very, very hard. It’s not like I was getting completely dominated.

“Towards the end I was swinging and missing a lot, but man, people go through that. It’s hard to be perfect in this game. It’s reachable, but I think the demand was there for me, given the amount of guys we had.”

Asked if he was told to work on certain things when he talked with Twins management about the demotion, Larnach said, “Yes and no.”

“Everybody’s got something to work on, it’s just not me,” he said. “I made the point that even though I had some struggles here and there, I still produced. I still got on base. Still drove in runs. I did the best I could considering how I felt at the plate physically.”

Tuesday night, Larnach had two hits in four at-bats, including a three-run double in the fourth inning, as the Saints coasted to an 11-3 victory over the Indianapolis Indians. Players sent to the minors have 72 hours to report, and Larnach elected to not report to the Saints until Tuesday. But he said it was not because he needed to collect himself mentally.

“It was more giving my body a break,” he said, “giving my body a rest. It was an active couple days, I just wasn’t at the field. I want to get back to the way I was feeling physically at the plate in spring training and the first couple of weeks of the season.”

Joining Larnach as a hitting star for the Saints was infielder Michael Helman, who drove in five runs with a three-hit day. He collected an RBI double in the second inning before hitting a three-run home run in the third. Helman added an RBI single in the fourth.

Jordan Balazovic started for the Saints and blanked the Indians over four innings of work, pitching out of trouble in the second and the third. The Indians loaded the bases in the second on a pair of singles and a walk with one out, but Balazovic got the next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play.

A walk and a double put two Indians on with no outs in the third, but Balazovic struck out the next three batters.

Briefly

The Saints’ starting pitcher for Wednesday is TBA, as is Thursday’s starter. Brent Headrick is not listed as the starter for any of the other three games, suggesting he could be headed back to the Twins this week.

Saints leadoff hitter Edouard Julien reached base five times: two hits, two walks and a hit batter.