After blasting a couple of mega homers that traveled a combined 831 feet on Wednesday, Miguel Sano has Twins fans salivating at what he might be able to do over the course of a full season.
Sano made his MLB debut July 2 and in 33 games since he’s stablished himself as the Twins’ cleanup hitter and biggest threat in a lineup that includes All-Star Brian Dozier, three-time batting champion Joe Mauer and veteran/former All-Star Torii Hunter.
Sure, the Twins’ offense doesn’t burn out scoreboard lights like the Blue Jays, but that shouldn’t take anything away from Sano’s amazing start.
Sano’s 6 RBIs Wednesday against Texas gave him 25 on the season to go along with 7 home runs. But he’s also drawn 23 walks, which equates a free pass to first base in 17 percent of his at-bats, 1500 ESPN reports.
“I think everybody talks about his power and how strong he is, but I think I’m mostly impressed with his eye at the plate,” Joe Mauer said, via 1500 ESPN. “Laying off of tough pitches. He’s got a pretty good idea of what he wants to do and needs to do.”
The fact that Sano is crushing the ball like he is as a 22-year-old has baseball’s brightest writers in a tizzy, including Aaron Gleeman of Hardball Talk.
“Sano is now hitting .295 with a .409 on-base percentage and .571 slugging percentage in 33 games. And if you prorate his numbers to 162 games you get 35 homers, 50 doubles, 108 walks, and 123 RBIs. His current .980 OPS would be the highest by a right-handed Twins hitter since Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in 1969 and the highest by any 22-year-old rookie since Hall of Famer Frank Thomas (who happens to be my favorite player of all time, despite his White Sox-ness).”
Fun for Twins fans to think about: Byron Buxton is seven months younger than Miguel Sano and has always been considered a superior prospect.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) August 13, 2015
The Twins’ record for homers in a season is 49 by Harmon Killebrew (1964, 1969) and the record for doubles is 47 by Justin Morneau (2008).
Seth Stohs of Twins Daily joked that Sano’s home runs on Wednesday left the atmosphere and became part of the Perseids meteor shower.
“This morning, I woke up a little before 4:00 a.m. Nature called, so I went outside which is why it’s so nice living in the country. In the fifteen minutes that I was out there, I bet I saw 100 meteors flying through the sky. While standing out there, I couldn’t help but wonder which flying objects in the sky were Miguel Sano home runs.”
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