Twins' Komatsu produces on and off field

MINNEAPOLIS — Late last week, the Minnesota Twins acquired an outfielder off waivers by the name of Erik Komatsu. But he also goes by another name: Komo Beatz.

That's not only Komatsu's Twitter handle but it's also his name in the music world. Komatsu isn't a world-renowned musician -- yet, anyway -- but he has dabbled with music recently, producing a number of instrumental tracks on his computer. His website includes 23 songs that have amassed over 22,000 plays. The genre of Komatsu's music could perhaps best be described as Electro-hop, a mix of electronic and hip hop.

However you want to classify it, it's provided Komatsu with something to do when he's not on the baseball field.

"I've listened to music, mainly hip hop music and stuff like that, forever. I was like, you know what, I'm going to try and learn how to do it," Komatsu said. "I just started doing it. In the offseason, I was bored. I'd be working out hitting and then go home and just mess around with that. I just kept doing it and doing it. It was just like every other challenge."

And Komatsu has already had several challenges in his brief professional baseball career. An eighth-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008, Komatsu is now with his fourth organization after joining the Twins last week. He spent over three years in Milwaukee's minor league system but never advanced higher than Double A. In 2011, the Brewers traded Komatsu to Washington in exchange for Jerry Hairston.

But Komatsu's stay in the Nationals' organization didn't last long -- just 31 games at Double-A Harrisburg, to be exact. This past December, the Cardinals took Komatsu in the Rule-5 Draft. He made St. Louis' Opening Day roster, but was placed on waivers by the Cardinals on May 1. The Twins swooped in to claim him, and Monday marked his third game in a Twins uniform.

Komatsu is hoping the fourth team's the charm.

"I'm just trying to find a place to stay," he said. "I'm just glad I'm in the big leagues and I can get a chance to prove myself."

Komatsu doesn't hit for much power. In 348 games in the minors, he hit just 24 home runs over four seasons. But he had two seasons where he stole 20 or more bases and had an on-base percentage of .389 in the minors. Last year with two different Double-A teams, Komatsu batted .277 with a .367 OBP.

He's also able to move around the outfield and is capable of playing all three outfield positions. While he committed an error in left field during Monday's game, Komatsu gives the Twins some versatility in the outfield and has a strong arm.

"He looked like he moved pretty good, threw the ball pretty decent," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "The ball comes out of his hands nice. He looks like he's got good instincts."

Komatsu's first hit as a Twin came on Monday, as he singled off Angels pitcher Jered Weaver. After no-hitting the Twins on Wednesday, Weaver continued that streak through two hitless innings Monday. But Komatsu's hit up the middle snapped the streak at 11 innings.

Komatsu also helped the Twins get on the board in the fifth inning when his takeout slide at second base prevented an inning-ending double play and allowed Chris Parmelee to score from third on a grounder by Denard Span.

"I'm going to play as hard as I can. I'm going to try to get on base and get into scoring position, score some runs," Komatsu said before Monday's game. "I'm not a guy who's going to hit 20, 25 home runs every year. I'm going to get on base and steal a couple bases, go first to third, play good defense and hopefully score some runs, be productive."

Komatsu has been productive on and off the field, producing music as Komo Beatz. He didn't use one of his own songs for his walk-up music Monday in his Target Field debut -- instead, he chose "Underground Kings" by Drake.

Perhaps one of Komatsu's new Twins teammates will chose a Komo Beatz tune for their at-bat song.

"They loved it over there with the Cardinals," Komatsu said. "(Pitcher Alex) Burnett had it up on his iPad yesterday. He was like, 'Dude, this is pretty sweet.' ...

"I kind of just started doing that this offseason. I'm still learning, but it's just a fun thing to do."


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