The longest-tenured Pirate and their most recent free-agent signing both took a positive step Sunday.
Well, they were more like positive trots. Around the bases.
In the Pirates’ first spring training game of the season, which they eventually won, 6-4, Gregory Polanco provided the first long ball of the year.
The right fielder, who is beginning his eighth season in Pittsburgh, stepped up in the third inning and swatted a ball high into the air and eventually over the left field wall. Two innings later, Todd Frazier, who signed with the Pirates just eight days prior, ripped the first pitch of his at-bat over the left field wall as well.
These early spring training games aren’t indicators of much in terms of long-term production. A home run here and there doesn’t mean a successful season is coming. It certainly isn’t a bad thing to go yard in the first game, though.
“Getting one over the wall was pretty nice,” Frazier said after he was removed from the game following his homer. “Just trying to square up a couple balls. Whether I get hits or not, at the end of the day it's about feeling good, feeling comfortable. I saw a lot of pitches and I'll take that first day, for sure.”
Getting comfortable as quickly as possible is important for the 35-year-old Frazier, who is still trying to make the team. His is a minor-league deal, and nothing’s guaranteed for the former Cincinnati Reds star.
As he says, there are no delusions that a home run in the fifth inning of a game is not the be all, end all. At the same time, Frazier knows he needs to make an impression in the time that he has this spring.
As of now, he isn’t sure how many opportunities he’ll get or how long they’ll be. He did say he’s talked to manager Derek Shelton to say that he’s willing to do whatever is asked of him.
“It’s go time for me,” Frazier said. “It’s one of those things like when you were younger, trying to make the team, which I am, just a little older now. When I get an opportunity to stay in there and go all nine, I will. It’s one of those things you’ve got to fight through it at the beginning, let your body get going and acclimated and away we go. Listen, if you're gonna need me to play five I'm there. It's just one of those things where I'm not going to, you know, [overwork] myself, but, at the same time, I want to be ready to let him know that I’m still available if he needs a pinch-hitter or whatever.”
Polanco’s situation is completely different.
He isn’t in danger of being cut or earning playing time. Shelton has said already that Polanco will be the Pirates’ right fielder this season. He is, however, trying to prove there’s more left in his tank.
His 2020 was abysmal, with a .153/.214/.325 slash line. To help improve, he spent time this offseason in Miami with assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero, who throws left-handed, working primarily on keeping his front shoulder closed as he swings. If effective, it could help him avoid rolling over into defensive shifts on the right side of the infield as frequently as he has.
Sunday’s home run, which came on an outside fastball, serves as a small sign that an intentional approach to spraying the ball around the diamond can work. It also showed that sort of approach doesn’t have to come at the expense of the power Polanco has always possessed.
More encouraging to Polanco, though, are the quality of his at-bats Sunday. Last year, he missed 43% of the pitches at which he swung. That isn’t exactly conducive to stringing out longer at-bats.
Against the Orioles, Polanco worked a 3-2 count in his first trip to the plate, then put a ball in play that notched him an RBI on a fielder’s choice with another run scoring on the resulting throwing error. His third at-bat also reached a 3-2 count, even though he eventually struck out swinging.
“Obviously, where I’m at right now and healthy, that says a lot,” Polanco said. “Me, personally, I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s good. That’s a good start for the spring training,’ obviously.
“… That was a good game today, and hopefully just get better every day and I can find my rhythm.”
On a team like the Pirates, it can get lost what Frazier and Polanco are trying to accomplish.
As the roster is getting younger and the focus turns to seasons in the future, the pair of veterans are hoping to prove they still belong and lengthen their own careers.
Sunday doesn’t etch their fates in stone for the upcoming season, by any means. It is, however, a good start for a couple of players who will take what they can get.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: February 28, 2021, 10:55 p.m.
