Twins wild card roster is set, and Miguel Sano is not on it

Miguel Sano is not on the Twins playoff roster for Tuesday's American League Wild Card playoff game against New York.

Sano, still recovering from a stress reaction in his left shin, did not participate in on-field workouts at Yankee Stadium on Monday.

The Twins' roster for the game (remember, this is just for the wild card game; any additional playoff series and they can reconfigure):

Pitchers: Matt Belisle, Jose Berrios, Buddy Boshers, Alan Busenitz, Tyler Duffey, Dillon Gee, Trevor Hildenberger, Adalberto Mejia, Ryan Pressly, Taylor Rogers, Ervin Santana

Catchers: Jason Castro, Mitch Garver, Chris Gimenez

Infielders: Ehire Adrianza, Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, Joe Mauer, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas

Outfielders: Byron Buxton, Zack Granite, Robbie Grossman, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario

My guess is that Mejia was added when Sano was unable to go. Pressly pitched a lot better down the stretch to earn a spot on the roster, or I would have guess him as the bubble boy.. Mejia, meanwhile, gives the Twins a third lefty reliever, but I have little confidence he can come in from the bullpen and consistently throw strikes. To me, he's an option if the game goes into the 15th inning.

I thought it was interesting when Sano was not on the field for workouts yesterday. Twins officials said he was indoors getting treatment and hitting in the indoor cage. But now there appears to be another reason why we didn't see him - they don't think he's ready.

There just wasn't enough time for the big man to get ready after such a long layoff. He injured himself on Aug. 18 when he fouled a ball off of his shin, then left a game the next day when he had trouble running. It took more than a month for him to get to a point where he felt comfortable trying to play on it.

He recently visited two specialists, and it was only after that when he decided to make a push to be on the wild card roster. But there wasn't enough time for him to get baseball ready. He went 1-for-8 during the last three games of the season, looking rusty at the plate. And he was not running well.

It's up to the Twins now. If they can beat the Yankees tonight, Sano could be added to the ALDS roster. If they don't, then the goal will be to get him ready for Fort Myers.

Many complain about Robbie Grossman. His ability to draw walks benefits this offense. My concern is that he takes too many strike three calls. So he's got to attack with two strikes if the ball is around the plate.

Here is the Yankees roster for the game:

And the Twins roster