When Carson Sands received four rapid-fire text messages within minutes of each other Friday from his younger brother Cole, Sands figured he had great news to share.
Carson guessed right.
It became official Saturday, when the Minnesota Twins announced they had recalled former North Florida Christian and Florida State pitcher Cole Sands from the Triple-A St. Paul (Minnesota) Saints to make his Major League debut.
The Twins are in St. Petersburg Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays, where it will be a Seminole Reunion, of sorts. Sands’ former FSU teammate, shortstop Taylor Walls, is a utility infielder for the Rays. And the Rays are managed by former FSU catcher Kevin Cash.
Sands is the third player from Tallahassee in five days to earn a promotion to the major leagues, joining Bowden Francis (Chiles/Chipola College) of the Toronto Blue Jays and Tyler Holton (Lincoln/FSU) of the Arizona Diamondbacks. All three were first-team All-Big Bend selections following their high school senior seasons in 2015.
BASEBALL COVERAGE
In case you missed it:Former Lincoln, FSU pitcher Tyler Holton makes MLB debut with Diamondbacks
Welcome to the Show! Blue Jays promote former Chiles RHP Bowden Francis to big leagues
And:University of Florida baseball transfer Jordan Carrion looking comfortable at Florida State
‘Lost for words’
“It has been crazy – at first I was lost for words,” said Carson Sands, a former fourth-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in 2014 from NFC whose professional career was cut short at the Class A level by injuries. “I am so excited and this is so huge for Cole. He’s worked so hard, and this is such a big accomplishment. I couldn’t be more proud.
“And it’s insane that three players from Tallahassee got called up within days of each other. It’s so hard to make it.”
Sands – a 6-foot-3 right-hander – is the Twins’ 15th-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America.
Although Sands was 0-3 in four games (three starts) at St. Paul this season, he has registered quality numbers since drafted in the fifth round by the Twins in 2018 from FSU. Sands went 4-2 with a 2.46 ERA in 80.1 innings in Double-A last season and is11-8 with a 2.93 ERA overall in the minors. He has made 39 starts, registered 1901. innings with 216 strikeouts.
The Sands family headed to the Tampa Bay area Saturday morning, with Sands’ mother, Lynna, describing the whirlwind 24 hours as surreal.
“We’re all experiencing so many emotions,” Lynna said. “We are absolutely ecstatic for him. This is the moment he’s worked towards and dreamt about. The fact he would be in Tampa was even more exciting. We’re just all taking it in. His grandfather, Gil Bruce, was able to travel down with us, along with Carson and his fiancé, Madelyn and Cole’s girlfriend, Peyton. It has been a whirlwind 24 hours.”
Sands, 24, has moved steadily through the Twins’ system and has been successful at every level. In his first two Triple-A starts this season, he went five innings each time and limited the opposition to one run and four hits, while striking out 12.
Sands throws a mid-90s fastball, a curveball, a changeup, and has been working on a cutter.
“I feel like I figured some things out at the end of last year in (Double-A) Wichita,” Sands told the Twins Cities Pioneer Press earlier this month. “I learned to use all of my pitches as weapons, and not just live off of one or two pitches. I got my feet wet in big-league camp this year, and that really helped me there. It’s carried over here.”
‘A fierce competitor’
At FSU (2016-18), Sands went 19-15 with a 4.73 ERA in 48 starts. He recorded 215 strikeouts in 228.1 innings. Following his senior season at NFC, Sands was drafted in the 22nd round by the Houston Astros. However, he elected to attend FSU.
“Cole is incredibly talented and an extremely hard worker and no moment is too big for him,” FSU coach Mike Martin, Jr. said. “The FSU baseball family couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”
Sands trained in his Tallahassee hometown in the off-season, often joining fellow professional players such as Walls, Cal Raleigh (Seattle/former FSU catcher) and Cole Ragans (Rangers organization/NFC) at NFC.
“That’s so neat,” NFC coach Mike Posey said of Sands’ promotion. “I don’t think people realize how fierce of a competitor he is. I think he went through stages of that – you have to learn it at every level. And I think he’s gained a lot of confidence along the way. We’re really happy for him.”
Reach Jim Henry at [email protected].
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism