Spring training is fully underway now that Twins pitchers, catchers and positional players are in Fort Myers, Florida, and by all accounts the player making the most news is Miguel Sano, who showed up at camp in much better shape than he did a year ago.
Sano credited his conditioning to the inclusion of yoga into his workout routine and his sister moving in with him to help with his nutrition in the Dominican Republic, according to the Twins.
“New year, 2019, everything’s in the past,” Sano said Sunday. “It’s just good to see something different for now and the new Miguel Sano. We’ve got a great team, so we look at the positive stuff, so the negatives we’re leaving in the past.”
How much weight has Sano lost? His exact weight isn’t clear, but the Star Tribune reports that he’s down at least a “couple dozen pounds.”
#MNTwins Miguel Sano 2018 vs 2019 is a pretty drastic difference: pic.twitter.com/R69AYKoe9K
— Ted (@tlschwerz) February 12, 2019
Sano reportedly played part of the 2018 season at 290-plus pounds and then began refocusing his commitment to being in better shape after he was demoted to the minors in June.
But it’s not all good news for the 25-year-old slugger.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Sano might not be able to take part in team drills to start spring training because he recovering from a laceration near his heel/Achilles that he suffered while in the Dominican Republic.
It doesn’t sound like it’s anything that will limit him long term, and it’s certainly nowhere near as impactful as the titanium rod Sano has surgically implanted into his lower leg last offseason.
That surgery kept him out most of the spring, played a role in his weight ballooning and eventually led to a brutal season in which Sano his .199 with 115 strikeouts in 299 plate appearances.
If Sano is healthy and can play at his All-Star level of 2017, the Twins could have a very dangerous power punch in the middle of the lineup with Sano and Nelson Cruz.
