Not since Pedro Alvarez left town in 2015 has there been a more polarizing figure in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization based solely off their play on the field than Gregory Polanco.
PITTSBURGH — The once highly regarded prospect has now turned into a poster child for angry Pirate fans when they criticize the front office for signing players to poor contracts or being unable to develop talent.
Following his hot start in 2018, a year that some deemed his final shot to prove he is not a bust, Polanco began to fall into arguably the worst slump of his professional career. After hitting five home runs in the first two weeks of April, Polanco went cold, finishing the month with a .198 batting average and striking out 28 times. In the month of May, Polanco did little to redeem himself, hitting just .232 with two home runs and nine runs batted in while striking out 24 times and only drawing 11 walks.
The poor numbers at the plate along with the emergence of young outfielder Austin Meadows has had many calling for Polanco to be benched, sent down to tripe A or even traded to any club that will take him. With the Pirates now using a four man outfield rotation, it seems as though anytime his name is in the lineup over Meadows, Corey Dickerson or Starling Marte, a large part of Pirates twitter has a complete and total meltdown.
While many of the people outside the Pirates organization have nearly given up on the 26 year, one person who clearly has not is his manager. Following the Bucs 8-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, Clint Hurdle spoke about how he still believes that Polanco has what it takes to be great.
“I’ve had his back through all of this,” said Hurdle. “I believe he is a good ball player and I believe the swing is going to come back out.”
A reason as to why Hurdle and some others still have faith in Polanco can be because of what he looks like at the plate on days like Sunday, where he went 3-3 with a walk, a double, a home run and two runs batted in. His overall approach and swing exposed both his haters and believers to the reality of how truly gifted he can be on a baseball field, when everything is right. While performances like Sunday afternoon have become rare, for Hurdle, people within the organization who know him best have seen enough to stay by his side.
“There are a lot of people that have already quit on him, which is interesting,” said Hurdle. “I am not in that group, the team is not in that group and the general manager is not in that group.”
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/460092627″ params=”color=#ff9900&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Though Polanco does lead the team in strikeouts (60) and have the lowest batting average (.211) and on base percentage (.313) among all members on the club who have enough at bats to qualify, there are some numbers that might indicate he has not been as bad as some claim.
Polanco is currently tied for the team lead in three offensive categories, home runs (9), doubles (18) and runs (36). While his total of nine home runs can be misleading due to his hot start his 18 doubles, which currently are tied for eighth most in the National League, show that he has been able to hit the ball into the gaps on a semi consistent basis throughout the entire year. Other things like his .759 OPS or the 31 walks he has drawn illustrate that his overall approach is not terrible and more hits may begin to fall.
It is unknown what is in store for the future of the Pirates and their streaky right fielder. The struggles he has had to find consistency at the plate have been a constant since his 11 game hit streak came to an end during his rookie year. However, according to Hurdle, the only thing that is guaranteed is that Polanco will continue to get chances to prove what he is capable of, one way or another.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
