By Mike Berardino
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS - By all accounts, Miguel Sano’s long-awaited arrival was a smashing success for the 2015 Twins.
The 22-year-old slugger’s impact was reaffirmed Tuesday with the announcement of his selection as both the Most Valuable Twin and the team’s most outstanding rookie. Sano joins Tony Oliva (1964) as the only Twins rookies to sweep both awards.
Voting was conducted by the Twin Cities chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
A third baseman who mostly served as the team’s designated hitter after his July 2 promotion from Double-A Chattanooga, Sano led Twins regulars in both on-base (.385) and slugging percentage (.530). The ballyhooed prospect from the Dominican Republic hit 18 home runs and drove in 52 runs while playing through a painful hamstring injury that marred his final month.
He missed the entire 2014 season after rupturing a ligament in his throwing elbow.
Joining Sano as a double winner was 40-year-old right fielder Torii Hunter. In his second tour with the Twins, Hunter won the Bob Allison Award for leadership, determination, hustle, tenacity and competitive spirit as well as the Mike Augustin Media Good Guy Award.
The Allison Award, instituted in 2005, is a first for Hunter, who also won the first two awards for Twins media cooperation in 2006-07. Hunter has yet to determine if he will return for a 20th big-league season in 2016.
Right-hander Kyle Gibson was named Twins pitcher of the year after posting a 3.84 earned-run average in a 194„ innings, both career bests.
Center fielder Aaron Hicks was voted most improved after increasing his slugging percentage by 124 points, while rookie outfielder Eddie Rosario won the Jim Kaat Award as the team’s top defender after tying for second in the majors with 16 outfield assists.
Second baseman Brian Dozier, winner of the Carl R. Pohlad Community Service Award, will be honored along with the rest of the winners at the 11th annual Diamond Awards on Jan. 28 at Target Field.
Those will include outfielder Max Kepler and right-hander Jose Berrios, voted Twins minor league player and pitcher of the year, respectively. Berrios, who also won the award in 2014, is the first Twins pitching prospect to repeat as Jim Rantz Award winner since it was instituted in 2002.
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