Verducci: Sano like Stanton or Puig?

[Han Joelo]

Tom Verducci's latest "Three Strikes" column features a segment on Sano.  There is a lot of good stuff in it, including how he aced the interview in English, thanks to offseason lessons.  Sano has some great, encouraging quotes, borderline cocky, but definitely brimming with purpose and confidence.

 

The brunt of the article centers around his inclusion on this list:

 

 

Back to the math: Ordinary players just don’t step into the big leagues and smash the baseball the way Sano did last year, when he posted a .916 OPS at age 22. Only six other hitters ever broke into the big leagues (minimum 80 games) at such a young age with such a high OPS. It’s a rather elite group: Joe DiMaggio in 1936, Ted Williams and Charlie Keller in '39, Frank Robinson in '56, Albert Pujols in 2001 and Puig in '13.

 

Verducci notes that projection systems like Zips predict a greater fall off than anyone on that list, greater even then Puig's last year.  My read of Verducci's take is that Sano's non-math profile is a lot stronger than Puig's, and finishes with this quote from Sano:

 

 

 

MVP, Triple Crown, one of the best players in baseball, a World Series title … I tell Sano it seems as if he’s heaping more expectations on himself, more than even those 18 homers in half a season created last year. He smiled at me in the most natural, unconcerned way. It was a look that made the idea of him as The Next Big Thing more possible.

“It’s something special,” he said, and pounded his heart. “God blessed me with something special. Now it’s my responsibility to take care of my family, take care of my teammates and help this team in the playoffs. That’s why I’m talking like this.”

 

Whether you like Verducci or not, it is always fun when one of the big national guns pays some positive attention to the Twins, and I'd recommend the article.

[Parker Hageman]

The entire piece lost me at "Sano's extension is reminiscent to McGwire".

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/707602779120996356 

[Han Joelo]

Parker,

Good to know my instincts aren't entirely worthless when it comes to analyzing swings and whatnot (largely thanks to your analysis.)  Or maybe I am misreading your post, and I am still wrong, just in a different way.

 

At any rate, the comparison to McGwire didn't seem right to me at all.  

[bluechipper]

Sano's got a much better approach at the plate than Puig and probably even Stanton. 

 

I love the confidence that Sano has in himself. Triple Crown this year!

[Parker Hageman]

 

Parker,

Good to know my instincts aren't entirely worthless when it comes to analyzing swings and whatnot (largely thanks to your analysis.)  Or maybe I am misreading your post, and I am still wrong, just in a different way.

 

At any rate, the comparison to McGwire didn't seem right to me at all.  

 

You're instincts are correct and that was my point too: It is not a good comparison. Their swing similarities essentially end at being right handed. 

 

I've listened to/read a lot of Verducci and, while a good writer and decent commentator, there are times when he tries to dissect aspects of the game where you can tell he is being fed information from inside sources (scouts, front office personnel, etc). This might be one of those times. Someone may have said to him that Sano reminds them of McGwire. Scouts like to do that a lot - come up with a comparable without really giving it a full review. 

 

In the grand scheme of the article, it was nothing, but nuggets like that dropped in the middle drive me nuts.

[Parker Hageman]

Sano's got a much better approach at the plate than Puig and probably even Stanton.

 

Yeah, Puig and Sano are also two fundamentally contrasting hitters when it comes to approach. Also, look at the difference between how pitchers are approaching them. Sano saw significantly fewer fastballs than Puig or Stanton received. 

 

 

At first blush I wanted to blame it on Plouffe for hitting behind him -- and teams wanting to pitch around Sano -- but Plouffe was much better than the guys hitting behind Stanton and Puig.