Farmer heating up when Twins need him most

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CLEVELAND -- Kyle Farmer is nothing if not extremely self-aware and matter-of-fact. That’s why he’s so well-liked in the Twins’ clubhouse and a favorite of manager Rocco Baldelli.

When Farmer arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., for Spring Training in February, he was candid about how he was somewhat surprised to still be on the team, as he’d expected to be non-tendered during the offseason. And now that he’s emerged from the deep struggles early in the season, he acknowledges that he’s just glad the Twins stuck with him through those tough times.

“You look at all the guys who were getting DFA'd around the league -- and I'm not going to lie, yeah, I've thought about it a few times,” Farmer said last week. “Everybody does. We're humans in here. When you're failing at something, you think they're going to do something. But you know, kudos to them for the support they've given me here.”

Now, Farmer is one of the team’s hottest hitters -- and the Twins are doubly rewarded for that, considering his presence in that clubhouse as that steadying veteran and self-deprecating, unifying character is more important now than ever as the club’s continued on-field malaise and bullpen depletion have their playoff margin down to a half-game.

Alongside the all-encompassing presence of Carlos Correa, the energy of Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton and the continually unfazed Carlos Santana’s ability to lead by example, Farmer’s niche in the clubhouse chemistry matters -- and the Twins will need every bit of it.

“An exceptional teammate and character type that you can't put a price, you can't put a number on it,” Baldelli said. “It's hard to even talk about it. What does Farm do every day when he shows up? For a lot of people in that clubhouse, everything. He's the guy they go to for conversation, for help, a laugh.”

And for the on-field turnaround that has helped Farmer endure to this point, he has two things to point to.

For one, Farmer’s right shoulder bothered him more than he acknowledged before he went to the IL on July 12 with a right shoulder strain, he said. The more significant point, though, is that he decided to widen his batting stance starting with his game on Aug. 13 -- and, coincidentally, that’s the day he hit his first homer of the season.

“It feels like I'm almost looking like Jeff Bagwell,” Farmer joked.

Since that day, Farmer is hitting .333/.351/.685 for a 1.036 OPS, by far the best mark among the Twins to play consistently in that stretch.

“It just helped me to see the ball better,” Farmer said. “Guys are throwing it a lot harder now compared to last year, and I was just going forward too much and it was putting a lot of pressure on my shoulder.”

The Twins need this version of Farmer -- on and off the field -- more than ever.

“I couldn't be happier that it's happening to a great person like him,” Correa said. “He's one of my favorite teammates of all time.”