
Miguel Sano provided a lively moment for armchair managers last night (these are not to be confused with armchair quarterbacks, nor are they limited to people who actually watch games in armchairs).
Sano, who is learning to play right field after being an infielder, went back on a ball hit by Salvador Perez and, well, didn't exactly read the carom correctly. More puzzling and questionable: after the ball hit the wall, he didn't chase after it — instead, slowing down while center fielder Danny Santana raced after it. By then, the slow-footed Perez had an easy triple.
Even if we give Sano the full benefit of the doubt and surmise that he had gauged Santana would get to the ball before him, the sight of a young player on an 11-33 team grinding to a halt in the midst of another blowout loss just doesn't look good. And as a result, there was speculation that the play could land Sano on the bench.
Sano, though, wasn't pulled from the game. (We'll have to wait a few hours to see if he's in Tuesday's lineup). In contrast, Eddie Rosario — another second-year Twins player who was struggling — was pulled from a game last week after mental and physical errors, then subsequently sent to Class AAA Rochester after the game. The final straw was a high-risk, low-reward steal of third, of which Twins manager Paul Molitor said, "I wanted to get Eddie out at that point."
And GM Terry Ryan said at the time, "We can't have any comfort in that clubhouse, and I mean none."
Molitor talked to Sano about the play between innings and offered thoughts on the Sano play after the game Monday, noting that the outfielder has been working hard on improve and that he likely assumed a teammate would get to the ball before he would. "But yeah, you want him to go for the ball even if you think someone might be there to help you out," Molitor added. "Sometimes you get caught assuming out there and it doesn't look too good."
Is that a double-standard? And if so — a more delicate question — is that necessarily a bad thing?
To the first question, I would say in just a simple one-to-one comparison with Rosario it appears that way. But it's also worth noting that Rosario's benching and demotion came at the end of a series of blunders and also had to do with his lack of discipline at the plate. He might have been pulled for having a series of misplays in one bad game, but that was far from the sole reason why he was demoted.