Miguel Sano suspended for brawl with Tigers; here's why it might not hurt Twins

Miguel Sano has been suspended one game for his role in a weekend brawl with the Tigers. He's appealing the ban, however

Saturday afternoon benches cleared between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers after lefty Matt Boyd threw a pitch behind Miguel Sano. The Twins slugger was not too happy with that, and he later shoved Tigers catcher James McCann, who got between him and Boyd.

Here's video of the fracas:

Both Sano and Boyd were ejected from the Saturday's game, and on Monday, MLB announced Sano has been suspended one game for his role in the brawl. He is appealing the ban:

Miguel Sano has been suspended for one game for his actions on Saturday. But Twins will appeal

— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) April 24, 2017

MLB says Sano was suspended for his "aggressive actions" on Saturday. Boyd was fined and McCann was not disciplined, which indicates MLB does not believe the pitch was intentional, and Sano was suspended for shoving McCann.

Sano, one of the game's top young power hitters, will be allowed to play until his appeal is heard. Usually in situations like this, the player will drop the appeal and serve the suspension when he is scheduled to receive an off-day. So the next time Twins manager Paul Molitor decides to rest Sano, he'll drop the appeal and serve the suspension in a game he wasn't even going to play anyway. He'll still be docked pay, however.

Through 18 games this season Sano is hitting .241/.413/.569 (179 OPS+) with five doubles, four home runs, and 14 RBI. He leads all of baseball with 17 walks.