Sano's first week as a big leaguer

[kydoty]

28 PA, 2 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 6 K, .455 AVG, .571 OBP, .682 SLG, 1.253 OPS

 

And his WAR hasn't updated yet, but it was 0.4 as of this morning. 

[nytwinsfan]

Acceptable.

[Squirrel]

What impresses me is his approach at the plate ... he lays off what he should, swings at what he should ... good eye/discipline there. You expect him to hit the ball hard and far ... but his patience at the plate ... impressive. That isn't something you necessarily expect from a rookie just up from the farm, and so young.

[TheLeviathan]

Sano's approach makes me wonder how the hell anyone was getting him out in the minors.  He's looked that good.

[nytwinsfan]

 

Sano's approach makes me wonder how the hell anyone was getting him out in the minors.  He's looked that good.

 

I had the same reaction. Although keep in mind that the last few weeks at Chattanooga, as the rust came off, barely anyone was.

[nicksaviking]

 

What impresses me is his approach at the plate ... he lays off what he should, swings at what he should ... good eye/discipline there. You expect him to hit the ball hard and far ... but his patience at the plate ... impressive. That isn't something you necessarily expect from a rookie just up from the farm, and so young.

 

Couldn't agree more.  He did swing at a few pitches outside, but he's night and day compared to most of the other youngsters thus far.  It's not that pitchers haven't figured out to throw him off speed stuff off the plate because they have, he just hasn't been biting on it often.  That always seems to be the biggest red flag with young hitters too.  Very optimistic.

[jimbo92107]

 

What impresses me is his approach at the plate ... he lays off what he should, swings at what he should ... good eye/discipline there. You expect him to hit the ball hard and far ... but his patience at the plate ... impressive. That isn't something you necessarily expect from a rookie just up from the farm, and so young.

Miguel Sano in the minors was said to have an "advanced approach" at the plate, and so far, it's very true. In fact, the last time I recall seeing a Twins rookie look this savvy right away was when Kent Hrbek first arrived. Sano has that same cool, organized look, with even more power.

 

How many rookie power hitters collect this many walks in their first handful of games? Sano is no young fool at the plate. This guy is a smart player, and you can tell that pitchers are already quite wary of him. They're refusing to throw him a strike on three-ball counts, and Sano isn't going for their junk offerings.

 

This is the best reason to call up Oswaldo Arcia, to punish pitchers for walking Sano. Play Sano at 3rd, Plouffe at 1st, and DH Arcia, or play Arcia in Right. Bat Arcia after Sano, and move Rosario to bat after Dozier, where he has looked good. For some reason Dozier bats better at lead-off than second in the order.

[jokin]

 

28 PA, 2 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 6 K, .455 AVG, .571 OBP, .682 SLG, 1.253 OPS

 

And his WAR hasn't updated yet, but it was 0.4 as of this morning. 

 

I thought everyone who objected to calling up Sano said he wouldn't contribute much in terms of WAR playing only as a DH?

 

This guy in the middle of the lineup has transformed the team (Twins are 5-2 since his call-up), and shown the way to everyone else in the lineup on renewing their selectivity at the plate to force pitchers to throw more hittable pitches (21.4% BB-rate!). Remember how good the Twins were at taking BBs in 2014?

 

Obviously he won't continue his .600 BABIP over a whole season, but he has a legit shot at ROY if he can sustain anything close to how good he looks at the plate at the moment.  

 

And how about playing defense at 3rd and running the bases? I guess we can lower our concern levels on those two fronts, as well.

 

 

[jokin]

 

I had the same reaction. Although keep in mind that the last few weeks at Chattanooga, as the rust came off, barely anyone was.

 

 

Excepting the error he made when I saw him early May at Chattanooga, he's mostly looked this good since then.

[DaveW]

Sano might become the first 4 outcome player: strike out, walk, double or home run.

 

His approach at the plate is amazing, he is going to be a very special player, he instantly makes this lineup so so so much better. Also he looked the part at 3B today.

[nytwinsfan]

To be fair to Seth and others that had seen him play and always raved about his speed and athleticism, and notwithstanding getting caught stealing today, he really is fast and athletic for his size. Amazingly so. I could believe that he could play outfield defense in a pinch, and probably just as well as Arcia.

[ckrolak]

How many plate appearances will he need for ROY?

[Tuba]

Couldn't watch the game today, what did he look like at 3B?

[jokin]

 

Couldn't watch the game today, what did he look like at 3B?

 

Competent.

[jokin]

 

To be fair to Seth and others that had seen him play and always raved about his speed and athleticism, and notwithstanding getting caught stealing today, he really is fast and athletic for his size. Amazingly so. I could believe that he could play outfield defense in a pinch, and probably just as well as Arcia.

 

Yup... I would guess he would be better at either corner than Arcia- in very short order, he's that good.

 

I hope that after seeing Sano for a week, people that doubted his athleticism can put to rest their previous concerns about any alleged shortcomings.  And while Sano was sent to steal second base and caught by a very good catcher, I'm guessing he was on his own in that heads-up play to take second on the throw to third on Plouffe in the third inning- that was a play a veteran baserunner makes.

[Vanimal46]

We're in the infant stages of turning the team over to Sano / Buxton and the rest of the kids, and it's very exciting to watch. By this time next year could Sano or Buxton surpass Mauer as the face of the franchise? I believe so...

 

To compare the call ups of our top prospects.... As others have mentioned, Sano looks very poised and confident at the plate. You can tell he's been playing professional baseball for years, even if it's his first week at the highest level. Buxton on the other hand, looked quite overmatched at the plate, swinging at junk pitches he shouldn't have. Both are still elite prospects, but Sano's a little more polished having 2 more years of pro baseball under his belt compared to Buxton.

[big dog]

 

 

 

This guy in the middle of the lineup has transformed the team (Twins are 5-2 since his call-up), and shown the way to everyone else in the lineup on renewing their selectivity at the plate to force pitchers to throw more hittable pitches (21.4% BB-rate!). Remember how good the Twins were at taking BBs in 2014?

 

 

Agreed with all above, the approach at the plate is remarkable for a rookie.  Really good at-bats, stings the ball even when he's out, looks great.  His performance at third today was steady, although it looked like he was taking a little crow-hop before he threw the ball.

 

I particularly like the way Sano has motivated the Twins' pitchers to hold the opponents to 17 runs in those 7 games. 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Sano's approach makes me wonder how the hell anyone was getting him out in the minors. He's looked that good.

I wondered the same thing.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Couldn't watch the game today, what did he look like at 3B?

He didn't get any chances to show greatness or failure. Everything I saw was pretty routine and he handled it.

[jokin]

 

We're in the infant stages of turning the team over to Sano / Buxton and the rest of the kids, and it's very exciting to watch. By this time next year could Sano or Buxton surpass Mauer as the face of the franchise? I believe so...

 

To compare the call ups of our top prospects.... As others have mentioned, Sano looks very poised and confident at the plate. You can tell he's been playing professional baseball for years, even if it's his first week at the highest level. Buxton on the other hand, looked quite overmatched at the plate, swinging at junk pitches he shouldn't have. Both are still elite prospects, but Sano's a little more polished having 2 more years of pro baseball under his belt compared to Buxton.

 

 

To be fair, Buxton on the whole, has faced tougher pitchers, but you're right, for the moment anyway, he is swinging at the pitchers's pitches that Sano, with his extra experience, is holding back on.

[HitInAPinch]

 

He didn't get any chances to show greatness or failure. Everything I saw was pretty routine and he handled it.

Gary Gaetti was often referred to as a good "catch and throw guy".  He had 4 Gold Gloves. 

[TJW]

Hicks - he's been a Monster since last Friday!:

 

22 PA, 3 R, 5 H, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K, .265 AVG, .364 OBP, .579 SLG, .943 OPS

[Craig Arko]

The next thing is to have someone hitting behind to protect him so he doesn't just get pitched around. But definitely the whole lineup is better with him in the middle of it.

[jokin]

 

He didn't get any chances to show greatness or failure. Everything I saw was pretty routine and he handled it.

 

Those are usually the types of chances he's screwed up on and caused the bulk of his errors.

[drivlikejehu]

Sano clearly started the year with a ton of rust. I wonder if he was a victim of larger/more inconsistent minor league strike zones? Because I also am having trouble understanding how he didn't dominate even more in AA.

 

He was on a particularly hot stretch preceding the call-up, so it could be that he's just been on an upward trajectory all year, and now is basically just a beast.

[Thrylos]

From what I can tell watching him during ST and seeing a bit of him in AA, his timing was not right.  He was smashing FBs but has hard time with the slower stuff.  Unlike Buxton, whose issue is pitch recognition, Sano's was timing.  And, unlike Buxton, who really needs to work on his deficiencies, timing gets fixed with reps.  And Sano had about the right number or reps about a month or so ago.   Sano and Buxton do not belong in the same sentence now as MLB players.  Buxton needs more time.  I have always thought that Sano was a better prospect and unfortunately Buxton seems to have a fatal flaw as a prospect: injury proneness.   Unless he a. takes care of that and b. learns some pitch recognition, he would have a long way to go to be an MLB regular

[drjim]

Clearly Sano needed time in AAA.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Miguel Sano in the minors was said to have an "advanced approach" at the plate, and so far, it's very true. In fact, the last time I recall seeing a Twins rookie look this savvy right away was when Kent Hrbek first arrived. Sano has that same cool, organized look, with even more power.

 

How many rookie power hitters collect this many walks in their first handful of games? Sano is no young fool at the plate. This guy is a smart player, and you can tell that pitchers are already quite wary of him. They're refusing to throw him a strike on three-ball counts, and Sano isn't going for their junk offerings.

 

This is the best reason to call up Oswaldo Arcia, to punish pitchers for walking Sano. Play Sano at 3rd, Plouffe at 1st, and DH Arcia, or play Arcia in Right. Bat Arcia after Sano, and move Rosario to bat after Dozier, where he has looked good. For some reason Dozier bats better at lead-off than second in the order.

Where exactly is J.P. Mauer playing in this scenario? And don't tell me catcher, because as much as that seems like a perfect solution, it isn't happening.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Competent.

i'll take competent with hitting like that

[curt1965]

It's hard to not get a little carried away with Sano. He gives the lineup a presence, a legitimate power guy that every pitcher will be wary of pitching to. It's really not fair to him to expect that he continue at this pace this early in his career. His ability to identify the strike zone has really impressed me, especially for someone only 22.

I'm also impressed with his attitude. No show boating, bat flipping, or aloofness you oftentimes see in players that have big initial successes.

I can't help but think this added dimension to the Twins might instill a new confidence into the team. Let's hope this ride continues!