IL notes: Walker not 'trying to change'

There's an old saying about power hitters like Rochester's Adam Walker: when they hit a ball, it stays hit.

"His power is as much as I've seen, and I've been doing this for a while; I've seen [Mark] McGwire and [Sammy] Sosa," said Red Wings skipper Mike Quade, who has been a coach or manager since 1985. "I hate calling it 'light tower power,' but there's some truth to that. When he squares a ball up, it's incredible."

And that, in a sentence, sums up the question facing one of the Twins' top prospects: can the slugging outfielder make enough contact at the Major League level to take advantage of the power that's helped him lead three leagues in homers, not to mention RBIs, over the past three seasons?

Walker begins the week with 14 homers, one shy of the International League lead. But he also has 111 strikeouts in 66 games, 18 more than anyone else in the IL as the 6-foot-5, 225-pound slugger averages a strikeout every 2.09 at-bats.

"For me, it's how my at-bats go," the 24-year-old Walker said. "Some of them haven't gone great.

"I'm just trying to have quality at-bats. If a pitcher makes a pitch, strikeouts happen. And they happen a little bit more me with me. But if I'm swinging at quality strikes, I can handle that."

Walker said he will not change his plate approach to limit strikeouts.

"I'm not trying to change who I am just to put the ball in play," he said. "But sometimes I've been trying to do too much, trying to hit a ball 600 feet when what I should do is try to put the barrel on it. If I barrel a pitch up, usually good stuff happens."

Quade said Walker needs to work on improving his plate discipline.

"While it's exciting to see him hit homers when he does, he has to make more consistent contact to take advantage of that strength," Quade said. "Young players come here and have to realize there's a gap between the Major Leagues and Triple-A. I call big League pitchers 'the varsity,' and the varsity consistently executes pitches way better than here.

"It's a fine line because you love to see him square up a pitch. But when he's offering at pitches way out of the strike zone ... And while people want to talk about walks, it's more about putting yourself in a 1-0 or 2-1 or 3-1 count as opposed to being behind."

While cutting down on strikeouts and making more contact are the priorities for Walker, those are not the only areas he's working to improve in Rochester.

"Defensively, I want to get better reads and get better on my throws," he said. "In the outfield, you can get a lot of outs if you put [your throws] on the base. You don't have to have a cannon out there if you make good, smart throws."

In brief

Can't get him out: Charlotte OF Leury Garcia has hit safely in 12 straight games, the longest active streak in the IL. He's batting .375 with eight RBIs and three runs scored during the streak to get his average up to .317 with two homers, 18 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 48 games.

Jumbo gets outs: Louisville closer Jumbo Diaz has been impressive since rejoining the Bats near the end of May. In nine appearances this month, he's allowed two earned runs on six hits and five walks over 11 innings for a 1.64 ERA. In 22 appearances with Louisville, Diaz is 1-1 with 11 saves -- good for third in the league -- and a 0.75 ERA.

He said it: "We're not in the business of creating utility players, we're in the business of creating impact-type players. Eventually, [JaCoby Jones] will settle on one position and he will do well at that position." --Toledo manager Lloyd McClendon to The (Toledo) Blade. Jones was playing shortstop when the Tigers acquired him from the Pirates at last year's Trade Deadline, but this year has played both third base and center field. Jones hit .312 with four homers and 20 RBIs in 20 games with Double-A Erie and is batting .250 with two homers and eight RBIs in 18 games in his first Triple-A stint.

He said it, part II: "[Nearly getting hit by a pitch] is definitely what ignited me a little bit. Looking back at it now that it's in the past, I probably overreacted a little bit. At the same time, you can't have guys throwing 96, 98 mph at your face. You can't just sit there and take it. I lost my cool a little bit, but I found it again that at-bat. It seemed to give the team a little spark. We put together some good at bats that inning." --Gwinnett C Anthony Recker to the Gwinnett Daily Post on June 22. The Braves were being no-hit by Indianapolis until Recker opened the ninth with a single that ignited a game-tying three-run rally. In the 10th, Recker slugged a walk-off homer.