Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins
2018 fWAR: 1.3
2019 fWAR (so far): 2.6
Saying the Twins are the best team in baseball is not a phrase many thought they’d be uttering on the precipice of June. But that’s why they play the game, folks.
Polanco’s 2018 campaign was abbreviated because of a PED suspension, but he’s come back to double last year’s fWAR production in 101 fewer plate appearances. He’s gotten to this point off the strength of a .335/.405/.583 triple slash, which susses out to a 160 wRC+.
The infielder’s 17.3% soft-hit rate and 40.5% hard-hit rate aren’t only huge improvements over last year (22.2% and 32.1%, respectively), but they’re on track to be new single-season career highs. He also boasts a much-higher-than-usual .248 ISO, which may partially be coming from a huge decrease in ground-ball rate (35.9% to 24.3%) and uptick in fly-ball rate (38.0% to 49.7%).
If we look at Polanco’s performance on fly balls last year, this wouldn’t be a welcome sight since he produced a 71 wRC+ with a higher soft-hit rate (31.5%) than hard-hit rate (27.0%). It’s been a different story in 2019, as he’s compiled a 127 wRC+ off the strength of a 35.7% hard-hit rate.
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