Minnesota Twins power hitting third base prospect Miguel Sano (pictured above) has torn up Double-A in the past 10 games slugging a huge .658 with 4 doubles and 4 homers, causing fans to want to see him called up come September when rosters expand.
Trevor Plouffe had the chance to grab the 3rd base position for the Twins by the horns this season and slow Sano's path to the majors and he has done nothing to do so. Plouffe is hitting .231 with 12 homers and 41 RBI and a very very mediocre slashline of .296/.388/.694. He hasn't helped his poor offensive numbers by playing stellar defense either. He has 9 errors and a fielding percentage of just .955, which seems great but is average at best, with the better defensive players having a fielding percentage of .980 or higher. Plouffe has become a waste of a first round pick and I don't think he'll last on this roster for much longer.
Deibinson Romero would be the next 3rd basemen in the way of Sano. He is currently at Triple-A Rochester and has solid season in the minors but his numbers don't compare to Sano's. He has hit .276 with 12 homers and 50 RBI between AA and AAA with a slashline of .380/.457/.838 much better then Plouffe's. Romero has 10 errors and a fielding percentage of .949, worse then Plouffe's and probably the reason he hasn't been called up to take over for Plouffe because his defense is worse and his offense is just marginally better but at the minor league level.
Miguel Sano has put up huge numbers between High-A and Double-A and is forcing Terry Ryan to make a decision on whether or not he should be a September call up, and it could be an unpopular decision. Sano has hit .289 with 31 homers and 92 RBI with an impressive slashline of .387/.620/1.087 which is way better then Plouffe and Romero's. Sano however has struggled even more then Plouffe and Romero have when it comes to defense. He has 21 errors and a fielding percentage of just .929 way lower then Plouffe or Romero. His offensive game is head and shoulders above Romero and Plouffe, but it may be his defensive game may be the reason he is not a September call up this season.
Here now are my 3 under the radar prospects who will get the call to be a September call up this fall:
C Josmil Pinto -
Pinto has come back down to Earth after getting promoted to AAA. He tore up AA and tore up AAA initially, and seems to be a part of the plan in 2014 at some point so I would be surprised not to see him. He has hit .305 with 14 homers and 71 RBI with an impressive slashline of .399/.467/.866 and he has a good fielding percentage of .989 but could still use some work when it comes to throwing out baserunners. He has thrown out 30% of baserunners this season and would need to up that by about 10% to become an everyday catcher, but he definitively has the bat to help at the major league level.
RP Michael Tonkin -
Has pitched for both AA and AAA this season and even threw 1.1 innings in the majors as well. He has been the closer at Rochester since joining them and has been great. He is a huge kid standing at 6'7 and has been dominate and will help our bullpen come September and for years to come. He has 18 saves, an ERA of 2.39 and has struck out 60 batters in 52.2 innings pitched.
SP Liam Hendriks -
His stats at AAA Rochester would make you second guess why he would get called up, but I will tell you why he will. In his spot start in a double header earlier this month he pitched well and now is the time to decide if he still deserves a spot on the 40 man roster. The Twins can give him a handful of starts in September and let him pitch for his spot on the 40 man. The Twins could also do this with Cole DeVries.
All in all, the Twins fans would like to see Pinto and Tonkin get a taste of the majors come September, but they would LOVE to see it Sa-No at Target Field this September.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987
Trevor Plouffe had the chance to grab the 3rd base position for the Twins by the horns this season and slow Sano's path to the majors and he has done nothing to do so. Plouffe is hitting .231 with 12 homers and 41 RBI and a very very mediocre slashline of .296/.388/.694. He hasn't helped his poor offensive numbers by playing stellar defense either. He has 9 errors and a fielding percentage of just .955, which seems great but is average at best, with the better defensive players having a fielding percentage of .980 or higher. Plouffe has become a waste of a first round pick and I don't think he'll last on this roster for much longer.
Deibinson Romero would be the next 3rd basemen in the way of Sano. He is currently at Triple-A Rochester and has solid season in the minors but his numbers don't compare to Sano's. He has hit .276 with 12 homers and 50 RBI between AA and AAA with a slashline of .380/.457/.838 much better then Plouffe's. Romero has 10 errors and a fielding percentage of .949, worse then Plouffe's and probably the reason he hasn't been called up to take over for Plouffe because his defense is worse and his offense is just marginally better but at the minor league level.
Miguel Sano has put up huge numbers between High-A and Double-A and is forcing Terry Ryan to make a decision on whether or not he should be a September call up, and it could be an unpopular decision. Sano has hit .289 with 31 homers and 92 RBI with an impressive slashline of .387/.620/1.087 which is way better then Plouffe and Romero's. Sano however has struggled even more then Plouffe and Romero have when it comes to defense. He has 21 errors and a fielding percentage of just .929 way lower then Plouffe or Romero. His offensive game is head and shoulders above Romero and Plouffe, but it may be his defensive game may be the reason he is not a September call up this season.
Here now are my 3 under the radar prospects who will get the call to be a September call up this fall:
C Josmil Pinto -
Pinto has come back down to Earth after getting promoted to AAA. He tore up AA and tore up AAA initially, and seems to be a part of the plan in 2014 at some point so I would be surprised not to see him. He has hit .305 with 14 homers and 71 RBI with an impressive slashline of .399/.467/.866 and he has a good fielding percentage of .989 but could still use some work when it comes to throwing out baserunners. He has thrown out 30% of baserunners this season and would need to up that by about 10% to become an everyday catcher, but he definitively has the bat to help at the major league level.
RP Michael Tonkin -
Has pitched for both AA and AAA this season and even threw 1.1 innings in the majors as well. He has been the closer at Rochester since joining them and has been great. He is a huge kid standing at 6'7 and has been dominate and will help our bullpen come September and for years to come. He has 18 saves, an ERA of 2.39 and has struck out 60 batters in 52.2 innings pitched.
SP Liam Hendriks -
His stats at AAA Rochester would make you second guess why he would get called up, but I will tell you why he will. In his spot start in a double header earlier this month he pitched well and now is the time to decide if he still deserves a spot on the 40 man roster. The Twins can give him a handful of starts in September and let him pitch for his spot on the 40 man. The Twins could also do this with Cole DeVries.
All in all, the Twins fans would like to see Pinto and Tonkin get a taste of the majors come September, but they would LOVE to see it Sa-No at Target Field this September.
Written by Nick Calo, follow me on Twitter for more updates and sports thoughts @PRH1987