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It was only a matter of time before the Twins started to advance their well-performing top prospects, and they made the first high-profile moves by sending third baseman Miguel Sano, second baseman Eddie Rosario, and outfielder Angel Morales to Double-A New Britain. All three had been playing with Advanced-A Fort Myers.
Morales, 23, is known for his raw power with the caveat that he was a big time free swinger who didn't make a lot of contact. It seems that he's made an adjustment or two though, as this season he's come on strong with the Miracle. He batted .297/.364/.525 this season, which is the first time he's posted an OPS over .715 since Beloit in 2010 when he posted .855 in 60 games.
His biggest issue continues to be right-handed pitching, where he's posted a mediocre .753 OPS versus the 1.178 OPS he's posted versus southpaws. Morales can slug, but he'll need to find a way to adjust much more quickly at Double-A. Most of 2010, all of 2011, all of 2012, and the first portion of this season were spent at the same level.
Rosario, 21, has continued to rake after being reinstated following a brief benching based on his attitude and approach to the game, which his coaches felt was lacking. In his last ten games he's blown up for a .385/.455/.744 triple slash. And to be honest, it hasn't been out of the ordinary to see the converted outfielder go on a rampage like this. His final line for the Miracle is .329/.377/.527. This is a massive promotion for Rosario, whose timeline continues to shorten based on his consistently strong performance.
And finally, there's Sano. Both Morales and Rosario have been stronger than Sano recently, but his performance on the season more than merits a test against stiffer competition. Sano's 16 bombs are impressive, but it's his across-the-board results that will leave us drooling: .330/.424/.655 in 56 games. He's been really good against lefties, and he has been other-worldly versus righties.
Given their trajectories, I expect both Rosario and Sano to have invitations to spring training in 2014 with a view to making their MLB debuts at some point later in the summer. Congratulations to all three players! We're one big step closer to something special.