FORT MYERS, Fla. – Miguel Sano's mysterious leg injury is now officially a setback. How major a setback remains to be seen.
The Twins third baseman entered the clubhouse on Tuesday wearing a walking boot on his right foot to help cover up a laceration above the heel. The team, in its second day of full squad spring training workouts, said Sano would be required to wear the boot for seven to 10 days before being re-evaluated.
Sano suffered the injury while celebrating winning the Dominican Winter League championship with his team, Estrellas. The Twins say that it's in an area that can be tough to keep a wound closed, so they are taking extra measures.
"Just to limit any kind of speculation, it's simply to protect and keep the wound clean and allowing it to heal," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Sano was unavailable for comment on Tuesday but still took the field to monitor drills. At one point, he fed balls to Baldelli so he could hit grounders to the infielders. On Monday, Sano watched bunt defense drills from foul territory. He will be able to do upper body workouts during the time he's in the boot, and the Twins are looking into the chances that he can get some cardiovascular work in as well.
After losing 25 pounds during the offseason and reporting to camp in his best shape since 2015, Sano will fall behind his teammates as they build toward Opening Day on March 28 against Cleveland.
Barring any unforeseen developments, there is still time for him to get enough at bats to be sharp in time for the start of the season.
The spring training opening game isn't until Saturday, and he can always participate in minor league spring training games, once they begin, to get the at-bats he needs.
"It's just something we'll roll with and deal with," Baldelli said. "There's a lot more to be excited and happy about as far as Miguel's offseason and everything that went into it. I consider this a minor issue we have to get past before he gets going.
"Based on everything I heard, it was a simple ... right around the time of the celebration of the winter league championship, catching it on something and simply opening the skin up. That was basically it."
