Fantasy Baseball: 10 Hitters Who Could Bounce Back in 2019
Miguel Sano, 3B, Minnesota Twins
ADP: 221
Depth Charts: 595 PA, 76 R, 29 HR, 84 RBI, 1 SB, .236 AVG
THE BAT: 586 PA, 79 R, 31 HR, 84 RBI, 1 SB, .240 AVG
Another Minnesota Twin who endured a lost season, Miguel Sano dealt with multiple leg injuries and a demotion to the minors, which led to him seeing only 299 plate appearances, and he sure didn't do a whole lot with them, producing a lackluster .199/.281/.398 line with 13 home runs. His already high strikeout rate rose to 38.5% -- the worst among all batters with at least 250 plate appearances -- and he produced easily his lowest wOBA in four major league seasons (.295).
But Sano is still an enticing power bat as someone who slugged 28 and 25 home runs in the prior two seasons, despite seeing fewer than 500 plate appearances in both. He owns a career .233 ISO, 42.6% hard-hit rate and 42.6% fly-ball rate, and his career 15.6% barrel rate would have cracked the top 10 on Statcast's 2018 leaderboard.
And despite his poor 2018, Sano still managed a 42.5% hard-hit rate and 11.8% barrel rate, signs that his power mostly remained intact. He also produced a double-digit walk rate for the fourth straight season (10.4%), so his plate discipline didn't completely crater.
Given Sano's 36.3% career strikeout rate, we're not expecting any miracles in batting average. But he's a .244 career hitter, and last year's .286 BABIP was well below what he's done over his career (.348). Although he'll likely still be net negative in the batting average department, it shouldn't be nearly as detrimental as it was last year.
Similar to the offseason narrative regarding Buxton, Sano has focused on his conditioning, and while we don't know if any of it will translate to better results, it could give Sano a better chance to stay healthy this season.
Sano still doesn't turn 26 until May, and maybe this is finally the year he can put it all together. With a full complement of plate appearances, Sano's power credentials suggest he can rival the best home run hitters in the game -- a ceiling we can get on board with at his draft price.
