Through the Fence: 4/5/15 Miguel Sano workouts

[Bob Sacamento]

Sorry to say but today was the last day of Spring Training, but it went off with a bang! Players took to the field at 9a for stretching, conditioning and optional throwing. Before the games started at 10am, Miguel Sano could be seen working out and running on The Hill with AA Strength and Conditioning Coach Dax Fiore. Before today, I hadn't seen much of Fiore but he was NOT taking it easy with Miggy. In the three years that I've been here for Spring Training/Instructionals, this was probably the most I've seen any coach get in his face.

 

Sano first started warmups by running up the hill and catching a football, let me just say his spiral was lacking. Afterwards, he hit the sandtrap working on acceleration and first step quickness; one could see Miggy getting physically exhausted that is when Coach Fiore started leaning in on him. At first, it was cordial with Dax encouraging him to get a drink of gatorade after a drill and treat the end of a drill as between innings. "When the season starts, we don't stop we WORK, WORK, WORK and then we WORK harder."

 

The next drill was a simulated first to third run with the focus on early acceleration, one could see the prospect tiring even more so. Once again Dax told him to get a drink and that "We're off tomorrow...we don't have Opening Day until Thursday...I'm going to teach you how to takes care of your body." The exhausted Sano said "I've lost 10lbs in last couple days on the diet (master cleanse)," and Coach Fiore's reply was priceless, "You lost that much weight so quick because you're fat."

 

Next was when Dax started to flex some muscle, Fiore asked him "How do you feel?" Miguel no reply, sat drinking water and taking a breather . That's when Dax got in Sano's face said "Are you being a dick? I asked you a question how do you feel? Sano with a shocked look on his face spoke up "I feel great." Coach Fiore's response was "Good then get the hell up and we're going to do it again."

Sano got up started the drill again and finished the run with a slide into an imaginary third base that's when Dax got extremely angry with him and he yelled "Quit sliding!" Miguel quickly stated "I need to work on my sliding", Dax says "No quit sliding, you already have a hurt wrist. What would they say if you hurt it again?" Sano got quiet and did run a few more times. Thats when Coach Fiore said "After this you can take a break and put on shorts" Sano asks "What are we doing?" "We're going to the weightroom for 30-45 minutes" says Dax. Miggy quips back "I'm a man, not a machine." Dax's replies "Suck it up cupcake, you're a big boy now."

 

The two then walked back to the clubhouse and hit the weightroom for almost an hour. Afterwards Sano cameback out, sat and watched the extended spring training clubs. I got a few selfies with him and got to talk to him about his workout, his injuried wrist, his tobacco chew obsession, hiscurrent diet, and his upcoming season. He was extremely friendly today like he has been all week but my highlight was getting to do the team handshake with him.

[Seth Stohs]

Cool story!! Thanks for sharing!

[Jham]

Awesome account of some behind the scenes action.  About time we lit a fire under these kids.  We need them to get better quickly.  Here's hoping that hard-work and hard-coaching pay off.

[GMinTraining]

From your perspective - Does he work hard?  I know the drills were difficult, but did he work hard in your opinion? (Bob)   Did he look out of shape?

[jimbo92107]

God, I hope Sano isn't hooked on chewing tobacco. What a disgusting, unhealthy habit. Maybe the athletic trainer can talk some sense into the kid before he ruins his health with that crap.

[nytwinsfan]

Outstanding!

[stringer bell]

Chew--last spring (post-surgery) I stood right next to Sano during a game.  All the Latin players came over to him to say hello and he was enjoying the company.  I noticed the chew right away and he "refreshed" a couple of times. 

 

Sano sure looks in shape to me, but I suppose it is a relative term.  The question that looms is "how big a guy can play third?" 

[lightfoot789]

All you heard all spring was that he made all the plays.  He could just be a "big" athlete (ala PaNDA), who again just gets it done.  That's my take.  He's great until he stops making plays.  That's the real world anyway / unfortunately.  Fans have little patience.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

From your perspective - Does he work hard?  I know the drills were difficult, but did he work hard in your opinion? (Bob)   Did he look out of shape?

In my opinion, yeah he was working hard, and like any "kid" he tries to make it fun ala sliding at the end of his run.  The older that he gets the more mature he becomes but still his best friends seem to be in extended spring training (the real young latin players).  He'll be 22 soon, he has the body of a man but he acts like he's a teenager.  I think the scary thing is, is that he's this good without really trying too hard how good will he be with proper training...

 

I've seen Sano for 3 years now and this is by far the best shape that I've seen him in.  Visibly you can see the "baby fat" is turning into muscle.  But by far the biggest transformation has been this camp, this year from start to finish.  Sano has a slimmed down waist line and lesser ass and he has been eating better thanks to Dax Fiore who also is the one monitoring his nutrition as well as his strength and conditioning.  The biggest thing is Sano has been treated with kid gloves for much of his career, it was nice seeing someone give him tough love.  There were a few times Miggy gave him the "I f'ing hate you look" but the two had genuine love, Sano knows he's there to help.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

 

All you heard all spring was that he made all the plays.  He could just be a "big" athlete (ala PaNDA), who again just gets it done.  That's my take.  He's great until he stops making plays.  That's the real world anyway / unfortunately.  Fans have little patience.

Honestly, defensively he looked really good at third this spring, a little quicker on his feet, covers the line and what's in front of him well but pairing him with a SS that covers the hole would be greatly benefitical.

[Mike Sixel]

chew? ugh, so stupid. Just, stupid. 

[Bob Sacamento]

 

 

God, I hope Sano isn't hooked on chewing tobacco. What a disgusting, unhealthy habit. Maybe the athletic trainer can talk some sense into the kid before he ruins his health with that crap.

In my selfie with him, he has a big ball of chew, his brand of choice is Copenhagen Black.  He's not the only player in camp that dips, it's quite popular with the Latino crowd as well as the Aussies, Thorpe's a dipper.

[jokin]

 

God, I hope Sano isn't hooked on chewing tobacco. What a disgusting, unhealthy habit. Maybe the athletic trainer can talk some sense into the kid before he ruins his health with that crap.

 

Just a picture of Tony Gwynn after his facial surgery for cancer should be enough incentive.

[Bob Sacamento]

Here's video of Sano working out, I always have issues with embedding on here so I'll put them as links:

 

this one was shot and posted on Twitter so that's why quality lacking

 

This is a similar one shot with better quality

 

Miguel running in the sand

[ashbury]

 

All you heard all spring was that he made all the plays. 

That is not what I saw. In two games I watched, he made two difficult plays requiring him to come in for the ball and then throw off-balance. But he also muffed two easier plays requiring lateral movement, overrunning one grounder and I forget what the other was. It seems clear that he has the tools to be a good fielder, but has to put it all together for it to be a reality.

[Bob Sacamento]

I was going to make another post about the actual game but instead I'll keep it brief, Pelfrey threw 5 innings for the AAA team, and was hit HARD, real HARD, the first two innings, giving up homers to Byron Buxton, Gonzales, Adam Brett Walker and Harrison, each one further than the last. After the Harrison homer, he settled down, didn't give up a hit, and started to locate his fastball. I talked to him after his outing, he said his fastball was "****" and he was right it was 91-93 mph flat with little to no motion. Pitching coach Rasmussen commented that "it looks like ****ing batting practice out there." The rest of the game, Pelfrey could be seen talking to Alex Meyer about his outing and the Kentucky loss. May replaced Pelfrey and was quickly greeted with another monster homerun from Walker, this one further than his first one. Both were pulled homers on fastballs middle-in which if you didn't know is a No-No to Walker and pitchers will soon learn.

 

Tommy Milone started and went 5 innings for Chattanooga, nothing flashy about Milone he doesn't light up the radar gun but was commanding his fastball for most of the game. Milone's outing was followed by Darnell, Pryor, Pressley, and Tonkin. In the lower level game, Berrios was on the mound, threw four innings looked sharp showing off a fastball with good movement and control while hitting 93-95 mph through the game. He's got a very developed breaking ball, and he completely overmatched the High A Fort Myers team. He was followed by Sleger for 3 innings, Gilbert and Muren (who looked pretty good-might be a breakout year for him). Greg Peavey wasn't as sharp and gave up a few big hits in his outing. His follow up acts were lighting up the radar gun in Dallas Gallant (look out for him this season), Zach Jones, Nick Burdi, DJ Johnson, and Shibuya. In extended ball, I saw very little of except when I was sitting with Sano and Tapia behind homeplate. Curtiss threw 3 innings, Tillery 2, followed by an inning from Pearce and Van Steensel.

 

On the other side, Steven Gonsalves looked good showing off a good changeup a few times, then Chargois who hit 99 mph on the gun a few times, finally Aussie Guyer, and Easton. The name I kept hearing from coaches to keep an eye on is Hu from Taiwan who looks to start the year off in Fort Myers. For those who wondered about Max Kepler, infield coach Sam Perlozzo has been working him hard on his skills at first base.

[Shane Wahl]

 

God, I hope Sano isn't hooked on chewing tobacco. What a disgusting, unhealthy habit. Maybe the athletic trainer can talk some sense into the kid before he ruins his health with that crap.

 

Yeah, what the hell? That would be the single most important thing for Miguel Sano to change about his health.

[Shane Wahl]

 

I was going to make another post about the actual game but instead I'll keep it brief, Pelfrey threw 5 innings for the AAA team, and was hit HARD, real HARD, the first two innings, giving up homers to Byron Buxton, Gonzales, Adam Brett Walker and Harrison, each one further than the last. After the Harrison homer, he settled down, didn't give up a hit, and started to locate his fastball. I talked to him after his outing, he said his fastball was "****" and he was right it was 91-93 mph flat with little to no motion. Pitching coach Rasmussen commented that "it looks like ****ing batting practice out there." The rest of the game, Pelfrey could be seen talking to Alex Meyer about his outing and the Kentucky loss. May replaced Pelfrey and was quickly greeted with another monster homerun from Walker, this one further than his first one. Both were pulled homers on fastballs middle-in which if you didn't know is a No-No to Walker and pitchers will soon learn.

 

Tommy Milone started and went 5 innings for Chattanooga, nothing flashy about Milone he doesn't light up the radar gun but was commanding his fastball for most of the game. Milone's outing was followed by Darnell, Pryor, Pressley, and Tonkin. In the lower level game, Berrios was on the mound, threw four innings looked sharp showing off a fastball with good movement and control while hitting 93-95 mph through the game. He's got a very developed breaking ball, and he completely overmatched the High A Fort Myers team. He was followed by Sleger for 3 innings, Gilbert and Muren (who looked pretty good-might be a breakout year for him). Greg Peavey wasn't as sharp and gave up a few big hits in his outing. His follow up acts were lighting up the radar gun in Dallas Gallant (look out for him this season), Zach Jones, Nick Burdi, DJ Johnson, and Shibuya. In extended ball, I saw very little of except when I was sitting with Sano and Tapia behind homeplate. Curtiss threw 3 innings, Tillery 2, followed by an inning from Pearce and Van Steensel.

 

On the other side, Steven Gonsalves looked good showing off a good changeup a few times, then Chargois who hit 99 mph on the gun a few times, finally Aussie Guyer, and Easton. The name I kept hearing from coaches to keep an eye on is Hu from Taiwan who looks to start the year off in Fort Myers. For those who wondered about Max Kepler, infield coach Sam Perlozzo has been working him hard on his skills at first base.

 

You packed a lot of information into one post. Milone will undoubtedly be a better starter than Pelfrey. That doesn't say much, but still.

[jokin]

 

I was going to make another post about the actual game but instead I'll keep it brief, Pelfrey threw 5 innings for the AAA team, and was hit HARD, real HARD, the first two innings, giving up homers to Byron Buxton, Gonzales, Adam Brett Walker and Harrison, each one further than the last. After the Harrison homer, he settled down, didn't give up a hit, and started to locate his fastball. I talked to him after his outing, he said his fastball was "****" and he was right it was 91-93 mph flat with little to no motion. Pitching coach Rasmussen commented that "it looks like ****ing batting practice out there." The rest of the game, Pelfrey could be seen talking to Alex Meyer about his outing and the Kentucky loss. May replaced Pelfrey and was quickly greeted with another monster homerun from Walker, this one further than his first one. Both were pulled homers on fastballs middle-in which if you didn't know is a No-No to Walker and pitchers will soon learn.

 

Tommy Milone started and went 5 innings for Chattanooga, nothing flashy about Milone he doesn't light up the radar gun but was commanding his fastball for most of the game. Milone's outing was followed by Darnell, Pryor, Pressley, and Tonkin. In the lower level game, Berrios was on the mound, threw four innings looked sharp showing off a fastball with good movement and control while hitting 93-95 mph through the game. He's got a very developed breaking ball, and he completely overmatched the High A Fort Myers team. He was followed by Sleger for 3 innings, Gilbert and Muren (who looked pretty good-might be a breakout year for him). Greg Peavey wasn't as sharp and gave up a few big hits in his outing. His follow up acts were lighting up the radar gun in Dallas Gallant (look out for him this season), Zach Jones, Nick Burdi, DJ Johnson, and Shibuya. In extended ball, I saw very little of except when I was sitting with Sano and Tapia behind homeplate. Curtiss threw 3 innings, Tillery 2, followed by an inning from Pearce and Van Steensel.

 

On the other side, Steven Gonsalves looked good showing off a good changeup a few times, then Chargois who hit 99 mph on the gun a few times, finally Aussie Guyer, and Easton. The name I kept hearing from coaches to keep an eye on is Hu from Taiwan who looks to start the year off in Fort Myers. For those who wondered about Max Kepler, infield coach Sam Perlozzo has been working him hard on his skills at first base.

 

Another excellent report.  Did you get a chance to see Gonsalves air out his best FB from the game, or from previously this spring and note the velocity?  Also, have you been witness to Stewart's velocity and the effectiveness of his slider?  Finally, since you have contributed so many excellent reports, do you have one more in your reporter's kit to decipher the Brandon Peterson Puzzle- the reason for his ridiculously high K rates and yet seemingly low-regard from the coaching staff and management?  (Peterson is from Savage, MN).

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Yeah, what the hell? That would be the single most important thing for Miguel Sano to change about his health.

I'd say Sano actually working out and eating right would be the most important thing for his immediate health.  The dipping is just more gross than anything in the present time, longterm ya definitely not good but not gonna stop him from staying at 3B.

[ExpectMorePayLess]

Any film or photos from AA and AAA game?  Would love to see Harrison hitting the long ball again.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Any film or photos from AA and AAA game?  Would love to see Harrison hitting the long ball again.

Here's some video of Buxton's second at bat against Pelfrey  , pictures can be found on my flickr account, happy browsing, there are some good ones in there.  If you want live feed you can always go to my twitter as well.

[big dog]

 

Yeah, what the hell? That would be the single most important thing for Miguel Sano to change about his health.

I thought they had banned chewing tobacco from the minors long ago- just during the game?  Why not everywhere on the grounds?