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Kepler DID play above AA, but not a lot. He got in 30 games at AAA before being called up to the Twins in 2016.

It seems to me that players develop at different rates. Sandy Koufax pitched five nondescript years with the Dodgers before becoming an all-star. Happily for the Dodgers they didn't give up on him. Nelson Cruz was also a late bloomer. It is often a marathon and not a foot race.

Comparing Gallo to Sano might not be fair. As was mentioned, Gallo generally has good at bats, which was more than could be said about Sano. I don't have the stats, but I'll bet that Sano had considerably more three pitch at bats ending in a strikeout than Gallo.