Written By Tom Schreier
Photo Credit: Brian Curski
The defense will take care of itself.
— Terry Ryan discussing Miguel Sano’s recovery on Tuesday
The good news is that Miguel Sano should be coming back. The bad news is nobody knows when exactly or where he will play once he does return to Minnesota.
“We’re gonna kinda monitor and see how he does, and make sure that we don’t do too much too soon to keep him on the diamond,” said Twins general manager Terry Ryan. “But this will be good opportunity, and we’ll move him around defensively. We’ll probably ease in DH-wise and have him some in the outfield, some in the infield.”
While everyone is focusing on Sano’s defense — will he play at third and DH, or will he return to right field? — Ryan appears more concerned over whether or not his prized hitter will be effective at the plate.
“I’m more worried about him swinging the bat,” he said. “We need to get his bat going, that’s my biggest concern. I’m not worried about his defense, his defense is fine in a lot of spots.”
There’s a lot to unpack here. For starters, Sano is around 270 pounds, very heavy for a right fielder, and was not particularly great defensively in the outfield. He came up as an infielder, played well at third base during a short stint there this season before he got hurt and was the designated hitter for most of last season.
Defense is subjective, so it’s not easily measured statistically like most things in baseball. Ryan has a scouting background, so he’s more qualified than most people to project where a player should play. But this is about more than Sano — it’s about where he fits with the team.
“Depends on what happens here,” said Ryan when asked if Sano will play in right field. “Don’t forget, we got a kid out there we kinda like too.”
That player is, of course, German prospect Max Kepler, who was the Southern League (Double-A) MVP last season. He has had his faults defensively this year, but has held his own for the most part and has hit safely in seven straight games through Tuesday.
He can play center field, according to Ryan, but that position is held down by Byron Buxton, another highly-regarded prospect who has been suspect with the bat but possesses warp speed in the outfield. Robbie Grossman, a hot-hitter since joining the team as a waiver pickup in late May, is a logical fit in left.
Complicating matters further is that Trevor Plouffe, a converted shortstop who bounced around the diamond for years before landing at third base, is a first-round pick from 2004 that is having a down year this season. Byung-ho Park, acquired from the Korean professional ranks in the offseason to the tune of a four-year, $12 million contract, occupies the DH spot. And Joe Mauer, the Twins $23 million man who owns a .377 on-base percentage, is currently at first.
It seems odd that there is a logjam on a team that is on pace to lose over 110 games this season, but in some ways there is. Buxton and Kepler need the major league experience. Grossman deserves as many at-bats as he can get right now. Mauer isn’t what he once was, but he still gets on base. Park isn’t hitting for average, but he leads the team with 12 home runs.
“That’ll take care of itself,” said Ryan when asked what position Sano will play.
This can be taken care of, of course. Putting Sano back in the outfield seems like an unnecessary risk. Not only could he re-injure his hamstring, but he could hurt another player. He nearly ran over Eduardo Nunez, who is one of the team’s better players right now, earlier in the season.
Dealing Plouffe or sending Park to Triple-A to brush up on his swing appear to be the most logical moves. Sano should be at third base or the designated hitter for the remainder of his career, and there’s no shame in giving Park some time in the minors during his first season in America.
The issue with trading Plouffe is that Minnesota may not get much in return. He’s an above-average third baseman mired in the doldrums of a down season. But he is 30 years old and should have a couple prime years left before his production drops.
Either way, it’s not a terrible idea to preach position versatility with Sano. It would allow the team to use him in the outfield in a pinch, and would keep his bat in the lineup when Mauer needs a DH day.
“We want to make sure when we do bring him back, that he does have an opportunity to play various spots,” he said. “Now, somebody gets hurt, we can put him in one spot. Somebody else doesn’t, we put him in another spot. If somebody’s not performing, we put him in a third spot.”
Interestingly, Ryan is less concerned about Sano re-injuring himself in the outfield than he is about hurting the hamstring at the plate. He pointed out that Sano got hurt running to first, not chasing after a fly ball in the outfield.
“If he plays the outfield, I don’t know if he … he might, but he didn’t get hurt in the outfield,” he said. “He got hurt running to first. That’ll be a major concern, running to first. He’s gonna have to be able to do that.
“The defense,” Ryan added, “will take care of itself.”