Minnesota, which needed to build a Uta Geopo line, moved to two-track in 2015. In addition to raising Miguel Sano (30), a promising player in the team, he also recruited Park Byung-ho (37‧kt), the home run king of the KBO League, in 2016 to play a role in the middle leg.
The recruitment of Park Byeong-ho ended in failure, but Sano seemed to be growing as Minnesota expected. Sano, who made his major league debut in 2015, showed off his extraordinary power and settled in the center of the team’s batting line. Sano, who left a strong impression by hitting 18 home runs in 80 games in 2015, hit 25 home runs in 116 games in 2016 and 28 home runs in 114 games in 2017. In 2017, he was also a league all-star.스포츠토토
Sano made up for his falling batting average and on-base percentage with long hits. In 2019, he also had 34 home runs and 79 RBIs in 105 games for an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.923. As long as the starting pitcher improves a little and injuries are reduced, he is not lacking as a player who can protect the team’s corner infield and center lineup. Besides, he was born in 1993, so he was young. But since 2020 he has started riding downhill.
His pitching got worse, and his batting average and on-base percentage began to plummet. He still hit 30 home runs in 2021, but his batting average was just 0.223. His walk/strikeout ratio did not improve, with only 59 walks while striking out 183 batters.
Suffering from injuries last year, Sano’s relationship with Minnesota ended with a batting average of 0.083 in 20 games. Sano, whose contract was up, was no longer looked down upon by Minnesota. Although he is currently a free agent (FA), Sano has yet to find a team to belong to.
Basically, it’s because there’s no evidence that he’s recovered from a knee injury he sustained last year. It is the same for all players, but for Sano, who uses long hits as a weapon, a knee injury can be a fatal blow. The general opinion is that the aftermath was clearly revealed last year. This is why other teams are reluctant to recruit him, even though he has four seasons of 25 or more homers and can be recruited cheaply at the relatively young age of 30.
It’s not that Sano didn’t make efforts to find a job for him. According to local media reports, Sano held a ‘showcase’ against major league clubs in February to show off that his knee and body were in good shape after his offseason contract did not go well. Several teams have sent scouts, but there are still no rumors about the signing.
Taking a year off will make Sano more forgotten in his league, and make his journey to a major league comeback all the more difficult. Attention is focusing on whether the giant, who recorded 162 home runs in 694 major league games, will be able to get a chance to recover.