Miguel Sano had himself quite a day on Sunday. The Twins' slugging prospect, playing for Fort Myers in high Class A , was ejected in the middle of his home run trot after clubbing his sixth dinger in just 17 games this season.
And it sounds like manager Doug Mientkiewicz has Sano's back. Per Milb.com:
With two outs in the fifth inning, Cardinals reliever Brandon Creath's first pitch to Sano was a high fastball behind his head.
MLB.com's No. 12 overall prospect sent a 3-1 offering over the Marlins training facility beyond the left-field fence, then allegedly pumped his fists and shouted in the direction of the Palm Beach dugout.
Plate umpire Fernando Rodriguez ejected the 19-year-old before he reached home, bringing Miracle manager Doug Mientkiewicz out of the dugout. Mientkiewicz also was tossed along with Fort Myers left fielder Stephen Wickens.
"Basically, they threw at Miguel Sano for being good because they couldn't get him out," Mientkiewicz said. "They threw at him and missed him and he hit a home run [three] pitches later and the umpire threw him out of the game for yelling something at the other dugout.
"Hit him in the back, I won't like it, but it's part of the game. Throw at his head and it messes with his future and I have a problem with it. It's an embarrassment to the game of baseball."
If you have been looking for a certain swagger from Twins players in recent years and found it lacking, perhaps Sano's eventual arrival will bring it -- in a good way. As talented as he is, it is next to impossible to imagine Joe Mauer shaking off an attempted beanball, homering and then mixing it up. Same goes for Josh Willingham. Justin Morneau? Maybe on a certain day, but not every day.
