Front Page: Three Reasons Twins Fans Should be Excited to Watch Miguel Sano

[Cooper Carlson]

The 2019 season was hopefully a breakout year for Miguel Sano. We had all seen production from Sano before last season, but Sano in 2019 was a different player. The coaching staff and front office has turned Sano into the player he was supposed to be when he was the No. 3 prospect in baseball years ago.1. Sano was a top 30 player on offense in 2019.

 

Miguel Sano’s ranks on offense last season:

• wRC+: 21st (137)
• OPS: 19th (.923)
• SLG: 11th (.576)
• wOBA: 27th (.378)
• HR: 29th (34)
• ISO: 3rd (.329)

Keep in mind he only played 105 games and had 439 plate appearances and still ranked in the top 30 for home runs. Sano was an elite batter on the most prolific home run hitting team in baseball history. The plan set up for him to maintain his performance appeared to have been working perfectly like we were all hoping it would before the season. Hopefully he can get a full season under his belt in 2019 so we can see just how good he can become.

 

2. Sano will start the season after a healthy offseason.

 

If you remember back to last offseason, you will likely remember all the hype surrounding Sano about his offseason because of how closely the Twins were monitoring him. He was supposed to jump in on Opening Day and be the player he was for 60% of the season last year for the whole year. Instead he ended up suffering a heel injury that kept him out for the first couple months, diminishing the hype and expectations.

 

This is now year two of the Twins very closely monitoring the diet and training for Sano to maintain his weight and borderline elite performance from a year ago. He is on pace to start the season in the Opening Day lineup after the outstanding season he had in 2019 and an offseason where the Twins were able to do everything they wanted to keep Sano on that level.

 

3. He shouldn’t experience much regression.

 

Matthew Lenz of TwinsDaily just put out a piece explaining why five Twins players could see regression in home runs. While I agree that Sano will see a dip in his HR/FB%, I don’t think his overall offensive production should take a hit. I say this because he absolutely tattoed the baseball last season. Here are his MLB Statcast rankings:

 

Download attachment: Annotation 2020-01-08 113804.png

• Avg Exit Velo: 2nd (94.4 MPH)
• Hard Hit%: 1st (57.2%)
• Barrels/batted ball events: 2nd (21.2%)

Basically he just smashed the baseball last season and that led to his best season in the majors. Now if he can focus on lifting the ball in the air more (41.9 FB% in 2019), while maintaining his hard contact then he should only get better.

 

Alright, those were the exciting things. He does have some glaring weaknesses including his third base defense (sign Donaldson @Twins) and potentially his strikeout rate. Right now, I think the strengths definitely outweigh the weaknesses and he should be one of the most fun Twins players to watch if he stays focused like he was last season.

 

What do you think? Has Miguel Sano proven enough to you, or do you need to see more of this? Maybe you just think he is bad at baseball. Let me know in the comments!

 

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[Darius]

Monster year coming.

[tony&rodney]

Sano is a fearsome hitter and i think he could really step forward. Experience, fitness, health, focus, and happiness could congeal to help the big man deliver an MVP level performance (please remember that MVPs are for Trout). I'm a fan.

[twinssporto]

I'm all in! Hook, line and sinker!

 

Hopefully his diet discipline was better than mine over the holidays. 

 

Let's go Sano!

[IndianaTwin]

Yikes — thanks for summarizing these stats. I thought he ended up with above-average numbers, but I didn’t realize there were so many top 30s!

 

It’s important that we don’t look at the 105 games and extrapolate that to having 50 percent more in each category. He actually only missed a quarter of the season. But even having a third more games to work with could lead to some impressive numbers. 

 

And I’m still not convinced that he can’t become at least an average defender if he puts in the work on that side of the ball that he seemed to put on conditioning and working with Cruz last year. He’s still got a great arm, and he comes in on the ball really well. The biggest challenge is lateral movement, but with more and more emphasis on positioning and shifts, that may lessen the effect of that weakness. Lateral movement is still important, but I’m not sure that it’s the be all and end all that it’s often been seen as in the past. 

[Doctor Gast]

I really like Sano, He`s big, strong, cannon for an arm & very quick for a big man. Sometimes he amazes me at 3B, they had moved him to RF for a short time & he was very open to that so he very easy to deal with. He needs to grow up more & don`t do anything stupid like getting hurt while goofing around. Hopefully a full year including spring training he can cut down on his errors. That said I don`t thing they can improve his lateral movement. Hope he can shorten his swing especially after the 1st strike, that will help lower his SOs & improve his contacts. He so strong, he doesn`t have to hit it that hard for it to go out, he could even hit more HRs

[miracleb]

 

I'm all in! Hook, line and sinker!

 

Hopefully his diet discipline was better than mine over the holidays. 

 

Let's go Sano!

 

[miracleb]

Seemed like Sano had made the effort to come in lighter last year but then gained weight while he was sidelined.......so he knows what/how to get fit.      Not sure if anyone has seen a photo of him in the past 3 months, but I will be curious to see what he looks like when he shows up for spring traning!

[Puckett34]

 

I really like Sano, He`s big, strong, cannon for an arm & very quick for a big man. Sometimes he amazes me at 3B, they had moved him to RF for a short time & he was very open to that so he very easy to deal with. He needs to grow up more & don`t do anything stupid like getting hurt while goofing around. Hopefully a full year including spring training he can cut down on his errors. That said I don`t thing they can improve his lateral movement. Hope he can shorten his swing especially after the 1st strike, that will help lower his SOs & improve his contacts. He so strong, he doesn`t have to hit it that hard for it to go out, he could even hit more HRs

I originally read this as a suggestion to move him to right field again and my eye started twitching. Glad I re-read that.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I would add a 4th reason that dovetails off of your first... He got off to a horrific start and had to reinvent his swing at the ML level... Despite that, he was top 30. 

 

If he picks up where he left off and of course stays healthy, he could be top 5. 

[Number3]

He has to actually do it for a whole season but Miguel and Byron both need to step up this year. If they do all the talk about what was not done in the off season will be forgotten. Football is almost done and baseball is just around the corner again. We will soon find out about the 2020 version.

[MMMordabito]

Topping Harmon's single-season mark isn't out of the question, if he stays healthy.

 

50HR 100BB 200K?

 

Actually, I could see an interesting race where Sano, Gallo and Judge all compete for the HR crown with a stat line similar to that.  They just need to stay healthy.

[Nine of twelve]

 

I would add a 4th reason that dovetails off of your first... He got off to a horrific start and had to reinvent his swing at the ML level... Despite that, he was top 30. 

 

If he picks up where he left off and of course stays healthy, he could be top 5. 

To expand on that, he was put on the Twins roster with almost no preparation. He was quite rusty and was at the point that most players would be at in early March. That was compounded with the fact that he was going up against players in mid-season form. Once he shook off the rust he was a monster.

[Nine of twelve]

 

(please remember that MVPs are for Trout).

Keep in mind that most valuable player is not the same thing as best player. Beyond just stats it also factors in how much your team benefits from your performance.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I'm convinced Sano has the potential to have a monster year.

Play ball ! 

[Battle ur tail off]

I'm on the Sano wagon and have been for some time. My biggest thing and the largest reason he had a better season last year IMO, is his plate discipline. You saw it when he was a rookie, then it kind of disappeared for a little bit there. 

Last year he was back to spitting at tough pitches, laying off outside breaking balls and making the pitcher groove him one. When there is a pitch right down the middle and his swing is on, there isn't a guy in baseball that hits it harder and farther than he does. 

 

There has been some talk about trading him around here, etc. I think that would be a huge mistake. From what I've been told, etc, he isn't worth a ton in a trade. I'd ride him out and hope to lock him up to stay around here for awhile. Power like that just doesn't come around very often. I'm not sure the Twins have produced one from their system with that kind of pop forever. 

[USNMCPO]

I am a little concerned that I haven't seen any comments from the Twins or media that they are monitoring Sano's fitness like they did last year. I hope that he has matured to the point that it is no longer a thing.

[jkcarew]

Probably one of the most exciting things about Sano is that there remains obvious opportunity for improvement...and from a base-line that is already very useful. Here's hoping there continues to be improvement in 2020! 

[Don Walcott]

 

I'm on the Sano wagon and have been for some time. My biggest thing and the largest reason he had a better season last year IMO, is his plate discipline. You saw it when he was a rookie, then it kind of disappeared for a little bit there. 

Last year he was back to spitting at tough pitches, laying off outside breaking balls and making the pitcher groove him one. When there is a pitch right down the middle and his swing is on, there isn't a guy in baseball that hits it harder and farther than he does. 

 

There has been some talk about trading him around here, etc. I think that would be a huge mistake. From what I've been told, etc, he isn't worth a ton in a trade. I'd ride him out and hope to lock him up to stay around here for awhile. Power like that just doesn't come around very often. I'm not sure the Twins have produced one from their system with that kind of pop forever. 

I've been a big defender of Sano on this site for years. It's so nice to see a positive off-season piece about him, and positive comments to boot.

 

I agree that his plate discipline last season was a key. I also hope that he starts getting the benefit of the doubt from home plate umpires this season. I may be biased, but I often felt like he got punished for his patience by bad strike calls. Maybe a bit more experience and some more respect from the umps will push those BB numbers cut down some on Ks, and give him more balls in the zone for him to square up. When he barrels a ball, it's like nobody else on this team.

 

I also think he could improve on defense, but his mobility will always be limited to what it is now. He's a big guy with a rod in his leg. That won't change much.

[Battle ur tail off]

 

When he barrels a ball, it's like nobody else on this team.

 

 

 

When he barrels up, he's like no one else in the league. WATCH OUT!!

[USAFChief]

1. He might hit a bomba.

 

2. He might walk.

 

3. He might hit a bomba.

[Rusty Shackleford]

What would a Sano contract extension look like? Would he accept? Is it necessary?

[KirbyDome89]

 

I am a little concerned that I haven't seen any comments from the Twins or media that they are monitoring Sano's fitness like they did last year. I hope that he has matured to the point that it is no longer a thing.

It's because he played well. Rest assured that the moment he hits a slight lull we'll hear the same tired stories.

[Squirrel]

 

I am a little concerned that I haven't seen any comments from the Twins or media that they are monitoring Sano's fitness like they did last year. I hope that he has matured to the point that it is no longer a thing.

I've seen some of his workouts and activity on instagram. He looks like he's kept up with some kind of regimen.

[MABB1959]

 

What would a Sano contract extension look like? Would he accept? Is it necessary?

How many years left?  This year and next?  My biggest fear is Buxton, Sano and Berrio will go with free agency.  They will get decent to above average money where ever they sign and it doesn't seem like anyone wants to sign here.  

[FormerMinnasotan]

I’m feeling good about Sanó as well. His numbers look decent even AFTER his slow start to the season. I think being healthy in the off season coming off of a successful second half of last season will work to Sanó’s benefit.

[puckstopper1]

All the more reason to consider keeping him at 3B IMO.

 

Remember what happened to him the last time the Twins changes his position.

 

Then again, if he can make the transition like the other Miguel did...

[FlauerPauer]

Check out his Instagram. He's posted a bunch of workout videos that he's been doing. A lot for his community as well. I really hope that he continues to become a better person as well as a better ballplayer. Big time Sano fan. Let's go Twins!

 

Edit: Check out his "stories". That's where majority of his workouts have been posted.

[mikelink45]

The one question that this brings is where is his extension.  He has the potential and certainly has done more than Buxton to show it, but only Kepler and Polanco were extended.  Why?  If we can bid on FA and fail, we should be able to bid on our own roster and succeed. 

[howeda7]

Personally, I need to see at least another half season from him. Both on the field, on the scale and off field. If all is well at the All-Star break, make him an offer.