Miguel Sano, third baseman, Minnesota Twins
While we’re on the subject of surprises in 2017, we can’t forget about the Twins. Minnesota’s 59-103 mark in 2016 was by far the worst in baseball. Heading into June, 2017, the Twins sit at 26-23, only one-half game out of first place in the American League Central.
This is happening despite the continued offensive struggles of Byron Buxton, a regression year from Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer continuing to have little power. The ringleader of Minnesota’s resurgence in 2017 has been Sano.
By some metrics, he’s having a historically great Twins season, at least for a player of his age.
No hitter in @Twins history has posted a 150+ OPS+ before turning 25. Miguel Sano, age-24, is at 169 for the season https://t.co/Gfa5l9hVTH pic.twitter.com/3ek3ZW5Qr2
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) May 30, 2017
Sano showed some promise in 2016, hitting 25 home runs and slugging at .462. But he also had a .236 batting average, .319 OBP, and struck out 178 times in only 437 at-bats.
In 2017, he’s been a more balanced hitter. The power has been there (12 home runs, 39 RBI), but he’s not so one-dimensional. Even with a high strikeout total (73 in 161 at-bats), Sano is hitting .292/.406/.590. He’s also made only four errors at third (two-time Gold Glove winner Manny Machado has made five). So, while Sano won’t be winning any Gold Gloves at the hot corner, he’s not a liability.
If you thought Sano would be an MVP candidate at the beginning of the year, we’re calling you a liar or saying that you should be buying Lottery tickets. But Sano is certainly having a season worthy of being an MVP candidate.