The Minnesota Twins will place first baseman Miguel Sano on the 10-day injured list on Monday but could also be close to calling up one of their top prospects, Jose Miranda.
Sano will hit the injured list after missing four of the past five games with left knee soreness. Although he started at first base during Saturday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, he was removed from the game during the seventh inning.
The 28-year-old is coming off a rough April, where he hit .093 with one home run and three RBIs in 65 plate appearances. Dating back to the start of the 2020 season, Sano is hitting just .209 with 44 homers and a .724 OPS in 802 plate appearances.
Sano’s injury comes at a fortunate time for the Twins as they need to get down from 28 players to 26 players before Monday’s game at Baltimore.
Rocco Baldelli said Sunday that catcher Jose Godoy will be optioned to get down to 26 players but that doesn’t address Kyle Garlick, who homered twice Saturday and then suffered a calf injury in Sunday’s win over the Rays.
The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports that Garlick’s injury “doesn’t sound routine” and the Twins could be in need of a right-handed bat. Hayes also reports that if Garlick goes on the injured list, Miranda “has a strong shot” at being promoted.
Miranda is the Twins’ No. 3 prospect according to MLB.com. In 21 games at Triple-A St. Paul, he is hitting .256 with two homers and 12 RBI, but in his past ten games he’s hitting .290 with a homer and a .526 slugging percentage.
Mirando, who is the cousin of Broadway superstar Lin Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton fame), dominated the minors last season at Double-A and Triple-A. In 80 games with the Saints last summer, he slashed .343/.397/.563 with 17 homers, 24 doubles and 54 RBI.
Miranda’s positional versatility could also be a benefit for the Twins. He has played 14 games at third base this season and five games at first. With Alex Kirilloff currently with the Saints, the Twins have been using Luis Arraez as Sano’s backup.
Promoting Miranda would solve that problem temporarily and give the Twins an option until Sano is ready to return.
The Twins have won nine of their last ten games and open a four-game series in Baltimore at 6:05 p.m. Monday.
