Gregory Polanco has greatly improved when facing left-handed pitching. What’s changed in his approach?
Gregory Polanco has had a breakout season so far in 2016. To date, he’s hitting .277/.349/.495/.844. The power stroke has finally shown up and Polanco is playing like he did for most of his minor league career.
The biggest difference between Polanco this year compared to previous seasons is he is finally hitting left-handed pitching with a bit more consistency. For his career, he’s a .207/.265/.330/.595 hitter against southpaws. It was so bad that many fans were calling for him to become a straight-up platoon player at times in 2015. This season, however, Polanco is hitting a respectable .267/.326/.488/.815 against lefties and has even hit four home runs.
What’s changed for Polanco?
The biggest thing is, Polanco is no longer just getting weak contact when facing left-handed pitchers. Prior to this season, Polanco had a .080 ISO (Isolated Power) against lefties, but this season he’s seen that jump over 100 points as he his ISO vs. LHP is .221. So while Polanco is not only hitting lefties better, he’s hitting them harder. Which should mean his success isn’t simply a statistical anomaly, it should be sustainable.
Polanco has also seen his Line Drive Rate against LHP go from 18.8 all the way up to 26.2. He has also seen his Hard Hit Rate when facing lefties go from 27.2 to 32.8. That means that Polanco is hitting solid line drives against LHP. I doubt you’ll be seeing anyone suggesting Polanco should be a platoon player anymore.
What has changed about Polanco’s approach? He has become dedicated to hitting the ball solidly the other way when facing lefties. In 2014 and 2015, Polanco’s opposite field Line Drive rate was 20.1 percent. Once again he has seen a huge improvement in 2016. He is currently hitting the ball solidly the other way 25.4 percent of the time. That is a fairly substantial improvement and shows he is not content with just trying to pull the ball. He has zero issue waiting on pitches to hit them opposite field.
In his first two seasons, Polanco’s opposite field Line Drive rate was 20.1%. Once again he has seen a huge improvement in 2016. He is currently hitting the ball solidly the other way 25.4% of the time. That is a fairly substantial improvement and shows he is not content with just trying to pull the ball. He has zero issue waiting on pitches to hit them opposite field.
Gregory Polanco has always had potential, but like a lot of young left-handed hitters, he struggled when facing lefty pitchers. If Polanco continues to solidly hit left-handed pitching, we could finally be seeing the birth of true superstar player. The talked about potential is finally turning into results for El Coffee.
Thanks for checking us out here at Pirates Breakdown. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook for the best Pirates coverage all year long!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
