Minnesota Twins slugger Miguel Sano made it to the finals of his first Home Run Derby. It was the second-best performance by a Twin in contest history.
The 2017 Home Run Derby that took place in Miami was a great show. There was down to the wire action, moonshots and a few surprises. Aaron Judge may have stolen the show, but Minnesota Twins slugger Miguel Sano held his own in his first career Derby appearance.
In the first round, Sano faced Royals slugger Mike Moustakas. It was the match up that kicked off the contest and it didn’t disappoint. Sano launched eleven long balls to best Moustakas who could only hit ten before time expired.
Later in the first round, the defending champion, and hometown hero, Giancarlo Stanton lost to Gary Sanchez in a stunning upset. Aaron Judge would wow the crowd at the end of round one by beating Justin Bour‘s incredible 22 home run outburst.
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In round two, Sano hit another eleven bombs to beat Gary Sanchez’s ten. That would make Sano just the second Twins player to make it to the finals of the Derby, the first being Justin Morneau in 2008. Morneau would end up besting Josh Hamilton to win the contest.
Judge would come out of the other side of the bracket after smacking 13 home runs, including a 513 foot moonshot. In the finals, Sano started out looking tired but would recover to hit ten taters. It was only fitting that to beat Sano, his opponent would have to hit eleven. That’s exactly what Judge did.
Judge couldn’t be stopped.
In the four minutes Judge had to hit eleven home runs, it only took him two minutes and two seconds. He didn’t even look tired. He was expected to hit an abundance of moonshots and he didn’t disappoint. Not to take away from Sano’s performance, though. Sano showed his power and held his own against the best sluggers in the game.
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Sano showed he can bash with the best sluggers in baseball. He is a hulking force in the middle of the Twins lineup and he showed what he was capable of Monday night. With the show that was put on across the board, it looks like some of these guys will be back for years to come. Look for Sano to be one of them. He showed he belongs there.