MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins didn’t do much on either side of the ball in a lopsided 12-2 loss to the White Sox at Target Field on Thursday night -- but just a 13-mile drive away, continued production brewed from a bat not heard from in some time.
East of the Mississippi River, at CHS Field, Miguel Sanó continued his rehab assignment by knocking a double and RBI single in a 2-for-4 performance for Triple-A St. Paul, the latest contributions in a productive buildup from a two-month absence following his surgery to repair a torn meniscus at the start of May.
Normally slow to get going following time away, Sanó is now 8-for-24 with two homers and three doubles in the small sample size of his eight-game rehab assignment in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League, and now Triple-A. The Twins have indicated so far that they’re not going to rush through this rehab assignment and will give him plenty of time to acclimate back to everyday baseball -- but at some point in the coming weeks, it’ll be decision time.
And the crux of the decision comes down to this: Where will Sanó fit on this roster?
“I'm not going to get too hell-bent on too many of the particulars, because we still have a little ways to go,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.
When this season began, Sanó was the team’s unquestioned starting first baseman. But he got off to a .093/.231/.148 start with one homer and nine walks in his first 17 games, going 5-for-54 before the injury. He split some time at first base with Luis Arraez, who has credited Sanó with helping him acclimate to the position after having spent minimal time at the position in his professional career.
But amid the disappointment of Thursday’s loss, the Twins got singles from all three of Arraez, Jose Miranda and Alex Kirilloff, a trio of youngsters who have formed a capable three-way platoon at first base in Sanó’s absence and look to figure prominently into this club’s future. As for at-bats at designated hitter, the Twins have frequently leaned on that as a position for Byron Buxton to ease the load on his troublesome right knee.
Despite slow starts to the season for both Miranda and Kirilloff, they’ve been extremely productive of late. Miranda, formerly the club’s No. 3 prospect, has hit .328/.363/.570 (a .933 OPS) in his last 41 games since May 20, while Kirilloff, once ranked No. 2 in the organization’s prospect rankings, has hit .301/.348/.482 (a .830 OPS) since he was recalled from Triple-A on June 17.
Neither of them is going anywhere, leaving little room at first base. And though Miranda can also play third base and Kirilloff plays plenty of left field, the Twins also have other regulars in those positions (Gio Urshela, Kyle Garlick, Gilberto Celestino and Nick Gordon) who have been performing well or offer defensive versatility. Garlick and Celestino have Minor League options and are both right-handed bats like Sanó; Gordon is out of options.
On the other hand, while Sanó’s streakiness has long been a point of confusion for the Twins, Baldelli has also seen firsthand how the slugger can completely carry a team with big swings when he’s hot, as he did with a .939 OPS in the second half of ‘19. Or his 1.031 OPS in August 2020. Or his .847 OPS in the second half of last season.
It’s tough to argue with the idea that the Twins could use some big swings these days, as they have stranded 10, 13 and seven runners on base in the three games of this homestand, struggling to find the key hit.
“I've seen [Sanó] healthy and good, so I know what he's capable of,” Baldelli said. “He's a game-changing type of at-bat when he's swinging the bat the way that he can, so I want to get him to that point, and he's going to get to that point by playing and getting as many at-bats as possible.”
Often, these situations work themselves out due to injury. Considering position players can remain on rehab assignments for 20 days, the decision point could come as late as July 24, the second game coming out of the All-Star break. Baldelli has already been pondering Sanó’s possible fit -- but they also know the picture isn’t yet fully clear.
“I've thought a lot about it,” Baldelli said. “But the truth of the matter is, things in this game change very quickly. Things in this game, every time you think you know what's coming your way, you're generally going to be wrong, so I'm not spending too much time on the 10 different scenarios that could play out in front of us.”