Gregory Polanco looks for breakout season

The Pirates look for Gregory Polanco to have a breakout year in his second full season in the majors.

Gregory Polanco has been a serviceable player for the Pirates over his first year and a half in the majors. However, with Polanco’s signature still drying on the new contract extension that he and the Pirates agreed upon, the team will be looking for him to have a breakout year and become not only a serviceable player, but a borderline superstar.

While you can see the details of the extension by clicking here, let me break down what a breakout season would look like for Polanco.

The first set of statistics and possibly most apparent are the ones that come at the plate for Polanco. He has recorded a .251 batting average with a .320 on base percentage over his career. A huge boost would come to the pirates if Polanco could increase his batting average to .275 and drive in more runs. The Pirates would also like to see him decrease his strikeout rate from 18.5 percent and increase his walk rate from 9.2.

How does he do this? It all comes down to the pitches he sees during the at bat. Polanco, on average, sees 3.94 pitches per at bat. While that is just slightly above league average, Polanco has had a tendency to chase pitches that look to be off the plate. With the Pirates really buying in to the OBP phenomenon this season, it is important for Polanco to see more pitches while he is at the plate.

Polanco seemed to take advantage of the pitches he saw in his at bat in the first inning with the bases loaded on Wednesday against the Cardinals. Polanco forced Mike Leake to throw more pitches and he was able to lay off the borderline pitches. If he can continue to do that, he will become a very difficult out at the plate.

Polanco also must come up big with the clutch factor. He is right on the MLB average for baserunners scoring while he is at bat with 14 percent. It would be huge if Polanco can elevate that and produce more RBIs and get more runners home. The Pirates had games last season where they couldn’t get runners in scoring position home. If Polanco can regularly drive in those ducks on the pond, he should be able to record close to 90 RBIs over the season.

Also, can Polanco elevate his power? He has a 1.6 home run percentage over his career. Compare this to Andrew McCutchen who has recorded a 3.3 home run percentage over his career. If Polanco can find middle ground in his power game and use the short porch in right field at PNC Park to his advantage, it would be a huge plus for the Pirates.

The second thing that comes to mind with Polanco is his tendencies on the bases. Polanco has run himself into a fair amount of outs on the bases whether it be with him over sliding the base, not getting a good jump on a steal attempt, or trying to advance when he shouldn’t.

Polanco has a stolen base percentage of 72 percent. If he can improve on his sliding into the bag and getting a better jump, he should have no problem elevating that percentage to over 75 percent. If he can make the pitcher focus on him and get himself into scoring position, he has the chance to become an elite base stealer.

While comparing the numbers of all three Pirate outfielders, it became apparent that all three players are similar, statistically. However, Polanco has room to elevate his game. If he does, there will be no doubt that the Pirates will reign as the best, and most dangerous, outfield in baseball.