Miguel Sano is set to make his 2019 season debut this week when the first place Minnesota Twins take on the Seattle Mariners.
Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano has been sidelined since the beginning of the year with a laceration to his right heel sustained celebrating his teams’ victory in the Dominican Winter League playoffs in December.
The Twins have to be hoping for the 2017 version of Sano, who had a .264 batting average, drove in 77 runs and had slugged 28 home runs in 114 games. He regressed last year before being sent to the minors with a .199 average, 41 RBI’s and 13 home runs in 71 games.
The biggest question is where do the Twins put him to get him going and not jeopardize the great chemistry the team has built up to this point. They are currently 27-15, leading the AL Central over the Cleveland Indians by 4.5 games.
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Sano, a third baseman, will start out splitting time with former Houston Astro, Marwin Gonzalez, the man who has been at the hot corner in his absence. Gonzalez is hitting .232 with 4 home runs and 13 RBI’s so far this season.
The Minnesota Twins could ease him into it by giving him some at-bats in the DH spot, but that could be short-lived as Nelson Cruz should be back any day from a nagging wrist injury and he is the unquestioned DH on any team he is on.
They could even slot him in at first base to give C.J. Cron some rest days. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to get Sano back into action, but the main thing is to get him back.
It will definitely be a lot of trial and error to figure out the best way to get him going. He is going to need some good reps and time to get back into a groove before any judgment is made.
Miguel Sano had an intense off-season, where he was focusing on his conditioning and his diet. He reported to camp slimmed down, but only time will tell if this helps him get back to his All-Star caliber play and leave 2018 to the history books.