One thing Twins super-prospect Miguel Sano has never lacked is confidence.
Sometimes that confidence has been taken as cockiness, and has gotten him in trouble, like this 29-second home run trot that reportedly was the reason he was benched during the middle of last year.
Speaking of home run trots, it sounds like Sano, the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, is planning on plenty of slow jogs around the bases this year.
According to the Star Tribune, this weekend Sano said he has a “fairly large expectation to make the team”, adding that he plans to hit “45 (home runs) this year, maybe 55, you never know.”
Sano hit 35 home runs in 123 games between Class A Fort Myers and Class AA New Britain last year, after going deep 28 times at Class A Beloit in 2012.
How lofty is his home run expectation?
In 2013, not a single player in the National League topped 36 home runs, while only Baltimore big bopper Chris Davis (53) and Detroit superstar slugger Miguel Cabrera (44) did in the American League.
Further, 2011 and 2012 produced zero hitters in either league above 45 tanks.
The last time any player eclipsed 55 homers? The 2006 season, when Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard hit 58. The reality of the post-steroid era is here.
Sano does not seem to care about the rest of the league though, and his first step to meeting his high expectations is to grab the starting spot at third base, with only two-year incumbent starter Trevor Plouffe standing in his way this spring.
