A Sano storm in September

The Minnesota Twins are playing meaningful games in September.

 Let me say that again.

The Minnesota Twins are playing meaningful games in September. 

During the four full seasons I covered the Twins, that was a statement I couldn't say with a straight face. By this date last year, Minnesota was 17 games under .500 and 15 games out of first place in the American League Central. The team basically had to go through the motions in the final month of the year because they knew it was over. The Twins were also 17 games under .500 at this point in 2013 and a whopping 20 games out of first place in the division. Again, the season was done, but there were still games to be played on the schedule.

Entering Wednesday's game against Chicago, Minnesota is five games ABOVE .500 at 68-63. Sure, they're 12 games behind the defending American League champion Kansas City Royals in the AL Central, but the Twins are just a game out of the second wild card spot in the American League. Fans who had given up at this point the past four years -- apathy had set in with many -- now have something to get excited about as Minnesota battles for a crack at the wild card.

How has this happened? Well, it's not exactly due to the fact that the Twins are excelling in any one area. They're 10th in the majors in runs scored (572), 29th in on-base percentage (.303), 22nd in ERA (4.17), and 28th in opponent batting average (.272). They don't have a bonafide ace in the rotation, and the bullpen went through a rough stretch before adding a few arms via trades.

As for the lineup, no qualified batter is hitting higher than .275 (rookie Eddie Rosario), and only three players have 60+ RBIs. Joe Mauer currently has a career-low OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .714, and Torii Hunter is showing his age at 40 years old.

Instead, the Twins' recent surge -- and the reason they're still in the hunt -- has had plenty to do with Minnesota's youth movement. The aforementioned Rosario set a team rookie record for triples and has demonstrated a strong arm in the outfield, nabbing a team-high 13 outfield assists. Eduardo Escobar (relatively young at 26) has taken the starting shortstop job and ran with it, and rookie Tyler Duffey is 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA in his last four starts -- all Twins victories -- since his rough major league debut back on Aug. 5.

But the brightest young star for the Twins, and a major reason for Minnesota being in the position it's in, is a kid from the Dominican Republic by the name of Miguel Sano. Entering Wednesday, Sano is already tied with Trevor Plouffe for the second-highest WAR on the Twins (2.1), per FanGraphs. His 14 home runs are fourth on the team, four behind Hunter and Plouffe, and Sano's 41 RBI are sixth-most on Minnesota's roster.

Oh, and Sano has played just 50 games in his big league career.

To be honest, I think we're running out of ways to describe the amazing things Miguel Sano has done in his short time in the minor leagues (and the puns that play on his last name are almost exhausted, too). Many tout his strength, while others simply use expletives to try and convey the impressive nature with which Sano hits.

However you want to describe Sano's first few month in the majors, just be sure to enjoy it. I wrote when he was recalled in early July that he would quickly become a fan favorite -- not only for his baseball ability but also for his big personality on and off the field -- and that has already come to fruition. I've seen plenty of Sano's No. 22 jerseys around town and at Twins games, and it looked like he and fellow rookie Byron Buxton were both a big hit at the Minnesota State Fair.

There is one month left in the season, which means another month to watch Miguel Sano do bad things to a baseball in 2015. He's given the Twins fans yet another reason to follow this team in September -- something that hasn't happened in these parts in quite a while.