Suzuki radiates a calming influence on young Twins staff

ARLINGTON, Texas >> Kurt Suzuki is the epitome of cool, calm and collected behind the plate for the Minnesota Twins, three invaluable qualities when working with a young pitching staff.

The Wailuku native tries to lead by example for the struggling American League squad, doing his best to keep the young arms throwing in the right direction.

“You try to learn their personalities, what makes them go, calms them down and stuff,” Suzuki said.

Suzuki, who is in his third season with the Twins, calls learning how to reach every member of the Minnesota staff his biggest responsibility as a catcher. Suzuki’s even-keeled demeanor has been a godsend these past few seasons for a largely inexperienced staff.

Second-year starter Tyler Duffey is grateful for Suzuki’s presence behind the dish, which gives him and his fellow hurlers great peace of mind on the mound.

“[He’s] easy to talk to, puts in the time, works really hard at what he does, breaks down all the hitters,” Duffey said. “He leads our pitching meetings before a series a lot of the time. It’s just little things that add up. It’s a good thing to have somebody like him back there to use for every aspect of the game, not just for pitching.”

Suzuki’s defensive proficiency — his strengths of calling a great game and working well with practically every pitcher he’s been teammates with — is well documented. However, this season the veteran backstop has also been delivering offensively for Minnesota.

After a tough April and May, Suzuki hit .370 in June with 3 HRs, 14 RBIs and an OPS of .984 over 20 games. And he’s continued to rake thus far in July, hitting .400 with 1 HR, 7 RBIs and an OPS of 1.063. He can’t explain exactly why he’s been hitting so well the past month or so, but he’s not complaining.

“Yeah, it’s baseball. It kind of just comes and goes,” said Suzuki, who is hitting .294 with 5 HRs, 32 RBIs and a .778 OPS at the MLB All-Star break. “It’s one of those things where you try not to think about it, you just take it day by day and at-bat by at-bat.”

Suzuki has been behind the plate for 59 games thus far in 2016, giving him 1,161 career games played, third-most among Hawaii natives in MLB history. Never a big individual numbers guy, being on that Aloha State list is a huge honor.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” said Suzuki, who is Hawaii’s leader in RBIs with 502, 13 more than fellow Mauian Shane Victorino. “You feel very humble to be in a position where you’re able to play this many games at the major league level. Not a lot of guys get to do this, obviously. You just embrace it. It definitely feels good, but you just take it day by day.”

Minnesota has a pretty young roster. Suzuki is one of a handful of players who are 30 or older. His leadership style is best described as lead by example. In his first two-plus years in the Twin Cities, not only has he become a well-liked personality in the clubhouse, but he’s also earned the immense respect of his teammates because of his professional approach to the game and his 10 years at this level.

“It’s one of those things you can’t really put a price on,” Duffey said. “The guy’s been in the league forever, knows everybody in and out and knows just the game, but individually how to talk to each of us. I don’t shake (him off) often, if ever. You go out and you feel comfortable when he’s back there, and you know when he comes up to hit he’s going to be the guy you want up there.”