Why Miguel Sano's Strikeouts Are Not a Problem

I don’t want a guy like Miguel Sano shortening up and chopping a grounder somewhere with 2 on and 0 outs. Try and bounce it off a speaker somewhere. Stay away from GIDP at all costs with this lineup as well (hit it far, or K trying).

I can live with the strikeouts. But his at bat with Adams tonight shows how valuable he is. There was no way he was gonna get a fastball. And a slider that bounced in the dirt allowed the the game to be tied. When he starts hitting into double plays, I'll have an issue.

You're going to give Sano credit for a WP?

Indirectly, yes. His reputation led to him getting nothing but sliders

Miguel Sano’s uniqueness aside, I don’t see how you can say strikeouts are the same as other outs. The Twins won tonight partially because Rosario advanced Polanco on a deep fly out, allowing him to score on a wild pitch. If you have a lineup of guys striking out over 1/3rd if the time you don’t get as many of those kinds of opportunities to stress the defense or induce productive things to happen.

It somehow works for Sano because he sells out and hits the ball so dang hard when he eventually makes contact. I like the risk/reward profile in the 5-7 slots in the lineup, but there are 4-5 other hitters on this team I’d rather have up in a big spot to extend a rally.

High leverage situational hitting will ultimately make or break opinion on Sano. His production when healthy is worth the Ks. But if it’s “hollow numbers” and poor in the playoffs, people will sour more.

Sano knows he can a mistake ball 500 ft so he will cheat a bit for that potential huge sportscenter highlight reel homer... especially earlier in his career. I believe he’s smarter in 2019 but I don’t know if he’s prepared to go all the way and take the temporary drop in power numbers to become ok against nasty pitching

When was the last time you remember Sano hitting a line-drive?

He doesn’t!

He either walks, K’s, homers, or hits 2000 foot popups!

I hate to say it, but in a critical situation with the game on the line- Adrianza will give me a better AB than Sano-every time.

I hate to say it, but in a critical situation with the game on the line- Adrianza will give me a better AB than Sano-every time.

Yeah... i don’t think that’s accurate. I’ll still take my chances with Sano it only to get him more experience in those situations. I don’t know if Adrianza will even be on the team in a year.

Ahhhhh the new baseball! Where striking out almost 40% of the time is acceptable. There is no doubt he will destroy a ball that he guessed right on. But oh those sliders off the plate are still irresistible! He sort of hits like the pitcher with the big fastball and no control. It's amazing to watch and the potential for the big play is always there. While it doesn't happen often, you just can't turn away!

Sano's upside has become a less durable Adam Dunn.  I always hope it would be higher.

If Sano starts to struggle, that's when you look at his strikeout numbers.

Every hitter has a weakness. This is his. He is still a very dangerous hitter, and heck he's still getting better.

I don't know why so many people have a hard time calling out Sano's atrocious contact rate while also accepting that he will strike out quite a bit.

 

But the difference between a 38% K rate and a 32% K rate would go a looooooong way with the guy. No one should want him to turn into Astudillo but there's certainly room for improvement in his approach.

 

Last night was a perfect example of how his approach nearly cost the team a victory. The pitcher didn't throw him a fastball because he didn't have to... thankfully, the pitcher lost control of a pitch and the winning run scored without Sano needing to do anything.

On the Wild Pitch, I thought he actually swung (I could be wrong), but that situation last night he and Castro are the two Twins I don't want hitting with 1 out and a guy on third. After the the wild pitch he struck out on a terrible swing IMO that looked like he was trying to hit the ball out of target field.

I like Sano so this isn't a criticism of him as a whole, it seems to me he doesn't have the ability to change his approach slightly based on the game situation.

On a positive note for Sano, down by 1 late in the game he and Rosario are two of the guys I want batting.

I don't know why so many people have a hard time calling out Sano's atrocious contact rate while also accepting that he will strike out quite a bit.

 

But the difference between a 38% K rate and a 32% K rate would go a looooooong way with the guy. No one should want him to turn into Astudillo but there's certainly room for improvement in his approach.

 

Last night was a perfect example of how his approach nearly cost the team a victory. The pitcher didn't throw him a fastball because he didn't have to... thankfully, the pitcher lost control of a pitch and the winning run scored without Sano needing to do anything.

It is what it is. If he could just magically strike out less, he would. The good (walks/power) come with the bad (low BA driven by K%). There would be trade-offs if he became more aggressive earlier in the count, and most likely he would become a worse hitter.

To me, Sanó angst is all about the hype. When he got to the majors, the comparisons were to Frank Thomas and triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera. He was supposed to be a power hitter who would hit .300 or better. His debut half-season gave us believers plenty of evidence that he would be such a hitter and soon. The first half of 2017 was more "proof". Injuries combined with struggles the last half of 2017 and most of 2018 show that he's not really improved. 

 

We were promised Miguel Cabrera and we're getting Mark Reynolds. I am not sure if it is potential wasted or if this is what Sanó was meant to be. Also, he just turned 26, a lot of players have broken out in their mid to late 20s.

Bingo. You can place most of the blame for our fan angst on Terry Ryan. Sano batting 3rd 2 years ago and having our entire future placed on his shoulders was all on the front office. Throwing sand in our eyes as we struggled to watch the 2011-2015 years. Then Ryan decides to make him a RF'er - are you joking? In todays lineup, playing a competent 3B & batting 7th - Sano fits nicely. 

I think any coaching to try to get him to change would affect his production. Leave him alone. If he starts to struggle, then start analyzing the problem.

This is not the player that was coming up through the minors and sold to the fans of the Twins. The potential that Sano has as player is now just shadow of what he could be. He may fit into this Twins line up and provide extra power to carry this team or i should say assist this team to winning. The bottem line here is that he had the talent to be so much more than that he could have been one of the elite players in the league. Now we get a player that is maybe 50% of what he could have been and if my guess is correct we will not be a Twin much longer because he is going to become expensive luxury that can be replaced by many coming up in the system. The assessment on talent potential was correct but the assessment on character makeup and individual makeup was way off. Thankfully some of the other Twins talent has exceeded first thought by everyone and now some of expected talent is getting there.  I would be surprised to see Sano here by end of next season and i wonder even for this season.

There was an article posted last week on this site asking if Sano was a fading superstar and all the comments were critical of the writing and the question because he is only 26, only has 1,700 career plate appearances, OPS over 1.000 (at the time), and is going to strikeout a ton because that is who he is.

The comments on this article are now mostly critical of Sano and his approach, and comparing him to guys like Adam Dunn and Mark Reynolds.

Sano's ceiling depends entirely on his ability to reduce his K% and increase his BB%. As he gets more at bats over his career, he will hopefully see both of those ratios shift in his advantage. He will be a guy who is incredibly frustrating at times, and a guy who can carry an offense by himself at others. It is nice he has as much support up and down the lineup now so he does not have to carry the offense.