Is Miguel Sano being Fat Shamed?

(by Travis Aune MSU Founder)

There is a prominent columnist for the Star Tribune Jim Souhan that has been very critical of Miguel Sano in past columns.  He brought up the fact that Sano has put on weight during the season.  I am not discounting that at all.  What I am critical of is I consider that Fat Shaming.  Meaning there is no substantial reasoning that his weight has affected Miguel Sano's game.  I am going to describe how fat shaming in his articles is prevalent.  Miguel Sano is a big-time power hitter, and it needs to be characterized that without Sano where would the Twins be.

What kind of player is he?

Miguel Sano is genuinely a three outcome player.  He is either going to hit a home run, strikeout, or make an out.   However, he was off the best start of his career before getting a stress reaction in his leg after fouling the pitch off his leg.  Because of this, he missed most of the rest of the season.  In all Sano hit .264 with 28 home runs and 77 rbi's in 114 games.  To be fair and balanced this is not the whole story in 424 at bats he had 173 strikeouts one out of every at-bat.  This Star Tribune writer Jim Souhan says that he gained weight during the year and I can't claim to know otherwise.  Ricky Rubio was a victim of his hate too as Souhan attacked his play.  Souhan has lost his edge in my opinion and now does hot takes to be relevant.  

Is Sano fat shamed?

When he reported springing training at 265 lbs, and then there should substantially gain weight during the season.  Just it bugged me that that particular writer went on and on about how much weight he gained and maybe I am going to far but reading it felt like he was accusing him of being lazy.  I think the Twins owe it to him to try to help him with his eating habits.  They can afford to have the personal chef on duty and checking in on him quite a bit to make sure he is staying in shape.  The fat shaming is saying well it is his fault and he should suffer the consequences to me is fat shaming.  I think this is just as much on the Twins as it is on Miguel Sano.  It would be the same thing if he weighed 160 lbs they would make sure he was taking 4000 calorie meals to maintain or raise his weight.  I don't think it is as simple as this writer made it out and if that were me regardless if I was overweight, I would demand an apology.  Of course, those that know that writer know that he feels he is entitled to say whatever he wants without having to apologize.  There might be others that have written about this issue, not the weight issue, but the personal responsibility of writers to show some compassion.  I know some writers and fans think well he makes this much money so he should take everything I got.  I don't feel that way when you get personal an unnamed source is not good enough in my opinion.   This is an article I would not have written if I had been him as it goes too far.  Then when he took guff for it, Souhan blamed the bloggers.  I have big enough shoulders that if he wants to blame the bloggers for making him take personal responsibility I am fine taking the blame.  That article should never have been written, and it's not the first time fat shaming has been done towards Twins players.  We know the other guys that have been criticized for what they eat, and I would never write that article.  To me, that comes off in poor taste, and it is disrespectful and not something I feel comfortable writing.

What Now?

I think that Miguel Sano is not going to let this issue define him as a baseball player.  He will come into camp in good shape in the 265-270 range, and it is up to Sano and the Twins to keep him in that range throughout the season.  This is a big year for Sano as some say that the reason that he missed all those games was that of his weight and I think that is ludicrous.  The truth is this was a bad injury to the point that he might have to put screws in the leg this year.  This could mean more DH days with Eduardo Escobar getting more days at 3b.  I am going to be completely honest Miguel Sano is my favorite Twins player so this bugs me more than most stories.  I feel like he is owed an apology, but I know he will never get it he needs to just work hard and prove him wrong.