Doubles

I'm upset he isn't a 150+ GP guy

Fair retort to a stupid line of posting.

Normally I would find myself in this same spot. But man, this team got so discombobulated after losing what, 10 of 11 or whatever it was. I'm not ready to say a 3 game streak will cure all that's illing the team, but ya gotta start somewhere. I'm hoping this is a return to competent baseball. Gotta get back to .500, then start building on that.

Rosario is probably the most polarizing Twin for me right now. Saturday night in Chicago is a prime example. Goes 4-for-5 at the plate, dinger, double, and abolutely looked dangerous every time he came up. Then in the late innings, he slids in on a shallow fly ball. Makes a great stab at the ball to short-hop it, and prevent it from getting by him. Then flails around on his back, instead of getting up right away & throwing the ball to second base, allowing the batter to take second base easily. Effectively, Rosario made a great stop to prevent a double and then by failing to get the ball back in to the infield in a timely manner turned it into a double. On the same play. Dude packs some serious thunder in his bat though. I'm watching to see if he can clean up the 'weird' parts of his game, or will that just be part of the package we'll have to deal with from a supremely talented player?

I would gladly back off my stance that Sano needs to lose weight if he would noticeably slim down and stay in the lineup. As has been noted, he hasn't reached 500 plate appearances since 2013 when he was in the minors. Doesn't there come a time when Sano has to make some sort of revelation to himself along the lines of, "Ya know this approach I've taken the last several years really isn't working out very well for me. Maybe it's high time I make some changes"?

Ever seen the movie ‘City Slickers’? When the three buddies are riding in the country and one is trying to explain to another how his VCR works?

No idea what the inference is here. Never saw Judge before he was with the Yankees. Also have never heard anyone question his level of fitness. He played in 155 games last season. Has played in all 31 Yankees games this season. Either this is a completely absurd comparison, or I’m missing something in a major way here. Again, to avoid the heat: get, and stay, in the lineup. Perform. It’s really that simple.

For the record, I have never called Sano, or any other Major Leaguer, lazy. I’ve seen firsthand up close & personal how hard Major Leaguers work at their craft. Would be impossible to be lazy and a Major Leaguer. One of my assumptions, based on nothing more than understanding how much work goes into a Major League swing, is that Sano works extremely hard. Another of my assumptions, based on reports that Sano’s weight climbs every time he reports to spring training, is that through better nutrition & an increased level of physical fitness, Sano could put himself in better position to be healthy & successful.

On top of my own reckless speculation, I have seen Sano himself quoted at multiple season’s ends, professing to lose weight in the off-season, only to come back heavier the following spring. Not exactly what I would call ‘dedicated to his craft.’ And for those trumpeting “he’s only 24...”. It only sets trickier with age.

If we truly believe carrying around the equivalent of a bag of salt pellets wouldn’t inhibit a Major Leaguer from being the best infielder he can be, we have truly lost the forrest in the trees.

I clearly am making assumptions that Sano’s play at third base, the position which he holds by far the highest value in the field, would benefit from dropping some poundcake. Does it really take a PhD to think a 260lb 3rd baseman would be quicker & more agile than a 300 pounder? I also am assuming his chances of staying healthy would increase as well. I don’t expect Sano to lose 60 pounds, and I highly doubt he’ll drop below 240 ever again. But I believe it is entirely reasonable to expect some level of fitness, and to expect an increased level of performance relative to fitness. If those assumptions weren’t widely accepted, if not absolute truths, then why are so many professional athletes dedicated to nutrition and fitness at off-the-chart levels?

To be brutally honest, I couldn’t care less. I want my third baseman to be on the field and to look more like a Major League infielder than an NFL lineman.

That one guy could make all those threads disappear by a) performing, which I can concede lends itself to a certain level of subjectivity and staying in the lineup.

I vehemently disagree with anyone that contends Sano's current physical condition is optimal for a Major League third baseman. I don't need newspaper articles or anything beyond my own two eyes and a frame-of-reference over decades of knowing what a Major League infielder looks like.

Can someone please remind me again why it's become so taboo to want / expect a world-class athlete to be in peak physical condition, or something relatively close to it? All this 'sensitivity' about body-shaming or whatever the issue is here confounds me.

Buxton cleary has a long ways to go offensively- is anyone even questioning that? He's also pretty good at catching the ball, and perhaps his defense would improve the Twins chances of giving up less runs.

Sano's, errrrr, 'level of conditioning' has been an issue for years now. 3 HRs in 5 games earlier this season notwithstanding, Sano was out of shape then, and is out of shape now. I want Sano to have the longest possible, successful career (as long as he plays for my favorite team, anyways) as much as anyone. I want him to be svelte enough to be cat-like at 3rd base, I want him to hit 50 bombs, bat .300, and drive in 140. Again, he hasn't hit 500 PAs since 2013. Errrr, maybe he needs to make some adjustments to give him the best chance to stay on the field, I dunno. 'Can't help the club from the tub...'

Buxton was one of the guys that carried the Twins in last season's second half- a pace that would have put him in the conversation for AL MVP if it occurred over the course of a full season- but let's not let that get in the way of the narrative.

Love love love me some Esco. Gimme an entire team full of guys that play the game with as much joy & passion as that cat exudes every single day. Love seeing guys like that thrive.

Nice write-up, Nick. Wish I were as optimistic. If people wonder why I rag on Sano all the time, this is a prime example. Given his ability, we should be talking about an MVP-caliber ballplayer. Instead, we are trying to conceptualize his penchant for not staying healthy enough to remain in the lineup, regardless of the reasons behind that. Maybe I'm guilty of my own double-standard of having probably more tolerance than most for brain injuries, but not giving injuries to other body parts the same benefit of the doubt. But as Souhan wrote today, Sano hasn't seen 500 PAs since 2013 in the minors. At what point comes the paradigm shift from envisioning Sano as a potential MVP candidate to one of, if not the, biggest waste of talent / potential in Twins franchise history?

I've never understood the fascination with bringing guys back that once played here. Especially those who weren't all that great to begin with.

Was pretty much gonna post this exact same sentiment. I don't so much mind losing if my team is competing. Typically happy to find myself in lock step with The Chief on most things, this is not one of those times, obvs. Not sure what was more infuriating- watching this meltdown play out, or feeling like it was happening in slow motion and still nobody was able to do something, anything, to keep it from going completely off the rails.

Sano 2018 DL trip number one. Retroactive to April 28.* *high five to spycake*

This outing is doing nothing to dissuade Hildy concern, holy moly.

You are hereby correct!