Twins' Eddie Rosario aiming higher in his second year

FORT MYERS, FLA. – There are a lot of statistics that stand out about Eddie Rosario's rookie season, from the 16 times he threw out a baserunner from the outfield (most ever by a Twins rookie), to the 118 strikeouts (making him the third Twin ever to have 100 or more strikeouts than walks) to the 15 triples (making him the first rookie to lead the majors since 1991). "That's cool," he said with a grin.

But here's the stat, far more obscure, that stands out to the second-year outfielder: Of Rosario's 15 triples, 10 struck the outfield wall on the fly. By his reckoning, those are 10 more home runs he should have had.

"Those are close to home runs. If I'm stronger, those are home runs," Rosario said through an interpreter. "This year, I'd like [them to be] home runs."

Well, so would the Twins, though his total of 13 homers — the first coming on the first pitch he saw as a big-leaguer — was plenty impressive for the slim, 6-1, 180-pounder who spent all of one month in Class AAA. But Rosario said he believes he is naturally growing into a stronger body, and a stronger hitter, one who can connect with far more power than he has shown.

"If you get the right pitch, I can [drive] it. I can always hit," Rosario said with a hint of swagger. "I'll keep getting better, hitting more home runs."

Good plan, the Twins figure.

"We're hoping for progression," manager Paul Molitor said of Rosario, whom he has scouted since the Puerto Rican entered the organization as its fourth-round pick in 2010. "He took advantage of his opportunity, became an everyday player for us. Post-completion of the season, our conversations were about ways to get better and not getting too comfortable too quickly. He's still in the process of getting established. I don't think we've seen his ceiling. I hope not."

Eddie Rosario's 2015 statistics

Rosario, 24, is having a solid spring, batting .313 with two homers after going 1-for-3 with a walk against the Pirates on Monday in Bradenton, Fla. He also threw out a runner trying to score Monday, displaying an arm that produced 16 outfield assists last season, second among all major leaguers. He has secured the left fielder job in a Twins outfield that will include Miguel Sano in right and rookie Byron Buxton in center.

But there are holes in Rosario's game, ones that appear more glaring to Molitor and his coaches than to Rosario himself. Specifically: those 118 strikeouts, compared to only 15 walks, in only 122 games. Rosario hit .267 last year, but his on-base percentage was only .289. He swung at 59 percent of the pitches he saw, and 47.2 percent of pitches out of the strike zone — the latter number almost half again as large as an average AL hitter.

"He can be a bad-ball hitter, to some degree, but I would like to see him swing at more strikes," Molitor said. "I definitely feel there's room for improvement."

Rosario does, too — but it's not exactly a priority. Swinging at fewer bad pitches "is something that Paul has talked to me about, and Bruno," he said, referring to hitting coach Tom Brunansky. "But people also tell me that I should not change things that worked for me last year. I'm definitely working on it, but if what I did last year worked, I'm going to try to keep things the same. If I struggle, then a change needs to be done. But I'm going to keep doing what I did last year."

It's that lack of command of the strike zone that causes most baseball analysts to discount Rosario's contributions, and downgrade his projected production in 2016 and beyond. Several outlets, in fact, project 22-year-old Max Kepler to claim the position for himself within a year or two. And Rosario himself has noticed how most Twins talk is about Buxton and Sano.

And truthfully, he's OK with that.

"They're the prospects, I'm just Eddie Rosario. I'll do my job and let my numbers speak for themselves," Rosario said. "I'll let them have the attention. I'm just going to do my work. I'm not going to get caught up in whether my name is out there all the time."