Now more than ever the Pittsburgh Pirates need Gregory Polanco to live up to his potential.
The Pirates are in the midst of a tightly contested NL Central race with the St. Louis Cardinals, but Josh Harrison’s injury will keep him out at least another month, while Starling Marte has been battling the injury bug lately.
This is the perfect chance for Polanco’s star to shine: to be the guy that steps up and helps deliver the Pirates to their first ever NL Central crown.
The Pirates need Polanco. Harrison was the Pirates’ safety net in right field, and now they have none if Polanco cannot step up. Polanco is also now the ideal lead-off man with Harrison out.
When Polanco came up through the minors, there was a lot of hype surrounding him. Standing at six feet and five inches tall, he had the potential to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases, all while displaying good plate awareness. In the field, his long legs give him great range to pair with his mortar of an arm. On top of it all he crushed minor league pitching from 2012-2014 and was the 2013 Dominican Winter League MVP.
What is there not to love?
But the 23-year-old second-year player has not had the breakout year many expected him to have. At the plate there are some times when his swings look awkward and off-balance, while on others looking very Pedro Alvarez-like on off-speed pitches from left-handed pitchers.
After hitting .278 in April, his average has dropped to .237 with an OPS of .653 (a .152/.387 split against left-handed pitching). Polanco has also only hit three home runs, while his slugging and isolated power percentages are his lowest since 2010 when he was in his first year in the Dominican Summer League.
His base running gaffs and over-slides are becoming magnified, and statistically he is one of the worst fielding starting right fielders in baseball. His fielding struggles were highlighted on May 15 against the Chicago Cubs when Polanco’s legs turned to jelly as he fielded a fly ball – instead making it look like he was teaching everyone the Dougie – which caused him to fall and allow the Cubs to score the game-winning run.
If Polanco’s struggles continue the next man up while Harrison is out would be Sean Rodriguez who, while to his credit is a very useful utility player, is not an everyday guy. Meanwhile, Travis Ishikawa does not have good range in the outfield and Jose Tabata is in AAA. The Pirates need Polanco to keep them from having to opt for the players behind him.
They could pull from a very deep minor league system and work a trade similar to the one that got them Marlon Byrd in 2013 (or even get Byrd again). But if Polanco steps up, they will not need to expend assets on a right fielder, and can instead keep or use them in a separate deal.
But he also has only been in the majors for just north of a year now, and while guys like Joc Pederson and Kris Bryant may beg to differ, it is not unusual for some players to take some time to really find their groove.
And there have been some glimpses of his high ceiling, peaking through like light between a crack in the wall of a dark room.
Despite the base running blunders, Polanco has the club lead in stolen bases with 17, good for seventh in best in the majors, while also showing his cannon of an arm at times. Also lest we forget he set the Pirates’ club record for most consecutive games with a hit to begin a career last season.
Even prior to the All-Star break, Polanco appeared to get on a bit of a roll. In his last 26 at-bats, he had a .308 average, and maybe more importantly only struck out in three of them.
That is the Polanco the Pirates need going forward.
The talent is there for Polanco – he was not rated as one of the best hitting prospects in baseball just a year ago for nothing. But Pirate fans also know that talent does not always equal results (Chad Hermansen anyone?).
Polanco was the hero for the Pirates on their last game before the break when he singled in the game winning run against the Cardinals; now they need him to be a hero of the second half of the season.
