FORT MYERS, Fla. _ Miguel Sano had a debridement procedure Tuesday to repair a wound above his right heel and will not play for the Twins until May.
The All-Star third baseman was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for a laceration on his lower right Achilles area, the team said. He flew to the Twin Cities on Monday when the Twins became concerned that the cut, suffered in January, wasn't healing at an acceptable pace.
Twins head trainer Tony Leo called it "an aggressive intervention."
Dr. Nho V. Tran performed the procedure at Mayo Clinic. The wound was cleaned, and two sutures were attached, Leo said.
Sano will need a week to recuperate from the surgery. A device to help flush the wound will be used for about a week, then he will be in a protective walking boot again. About three weeks from now, the Twins hope he will be able to begin activities toward returning to baseball activities.
He won't be rushed; since he's been unable to work out for a few weeks now, the Twins want to avoid Sano suffering a soft tissue injury.
"He's out of the picture right now for Opening Day," Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey said.
Falvey acknowledged that Sano might not make his 2019 debut until May.
The slugger suffered the cut during a celebration in his hometown of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, on Jan. 26, and he hasn't been able to hit or field ever since. Since the cut, located just above his heel behind the Achilles tendon, is horizontal, a quick recovery was problematic because of how easy it could reopen.
Sano was fitted with a walking boot on Feb. 20 to help protect the area. But when the Twins re-evaluated him last Wednesday, they weren't satisfied with this progress and announced that he would need a few more days to let it heal properly.
Leo said at the time that the area was about 80 percent healed.
"But unfortunately, we need actually 100 percent," Leo said at the time, noting the proximity to the Achilles.
It's a sizable setback for Sano, who could use some good news after a slump-ridden and injury-plagued 2018 season.
There were a dozen stitches in Sano's right heel to protect a horizontal laceration when he reported to training camp on Feb. 17. He suffered the cut on the stairs leading to a stage in San Pedro de Macoris, he said. Sano joined his hometown team, Estrellas Orientales, for the Dominican Winter League playoffs, batting .222 (10-for-45) with one home run and two doubles in 12 games, and he helped Estrellas win the league championship for the first time in 51 years.
Three days later, on Jan. 26, the city staged a "Cavalcade of Champions" through the town to celebrate, with the parade ending at a large stage near the city center. "The entire town came out. (At the stage), the president of the team called every player up, one by one, to say thank you for the support," Sano explained through an interpreter Feb. 20. "Someone dropped liquid on the stage, someone else slipped, that person pushed me, I slipped down the starts and I caught my (heel) on them."
The impact opened a significant cut just above Sano's heel, but he didn't realize it at first. "I didn't even feel at it at the beginning, there was so much going on, so many people around me," Sano said. "Then my wife noticed" that he was bleeding.
Marwin Gonzalez, signed Feb. 25 to a two-year, $21 million contract, is likely to take Sano's starting spot at third base.
