Before Thursday’s home opener against the Chicago Cubs, the Pirates’ players and staff stood shoulder to shoulder on the third-base line for their annual team introduction.
As broadcaster Greg Brown ran through the starting lineup for the day over the PNC Park PA system, he eventually got to right fielder Gregory Polanco. As the big 29-year-old skipped out of the dugout, a small, but noticeable, smattering of boos could be heard from the crowd.
At that point in the day, Polanco was still 1-for-17 on the season, one year after he’d slashed .153/.214/.325.
It should be noted that those two sample sizes, combined, don’t add up to a full season of work. Still, it’s understandable that people get frustrated watching the struggles game in and game out. Polanco’s been frustrated himself.
"It's really tough, man,” Polanco said. “I'm not going to lie, sometimes at night it's hard to sleep when you're going through those hard times.”
It’s also pretty unlikely that anything’s going to change in the immediate future. As tedious as that may sound, it’s not necessarily harmful
Polanco is in the last guaranteed year of the contract extension he signed in 2016. That deal makes him by far the highest-paid player on the team, netting $11.6 million this season, over $7 million more than the next-highest, Adam Frazier. After this, there’s a team option to keep him around if the Pirates would like, though that seems increasingly unlikely.
This is also a season in which the Pirates aren’t really expected to compete. It isn’t as if Polanco is the sole reason they are 1-6 a week into the season. If they finish at the bottom of the NL Central, it won’t be because Polanco dragged them to that position.
Plus, the situation would be different if there were an outfielder primed and ready to take Polanco’s reps for the sake of development. There isn’t yet.
Prospect Travis Swaggerty isn’t ready. Jared Oliva, another young outfielder, was just sent to Bradenton, Fla., rather than the alternate training site to tweak a few things in his swing before beginning his season in earnest.
The other outfielders on the Pirates’ roster, like Anthony Alford and Dustin Fowler, have not shown they’re more qualified for everyday reps than Polanco. Phillip Evans and Wilmer Difo, who could theoretically slide into that role if needed, aren’t exactly sure things, either — even if Evans has been swinging a hot bat in uneven playing time since last year.
Polanco’s status feels purgatorial. It would be surprising to find trade partners bursting through the door for Polanco, he doesn’t appear to be a piece of the future, and there isn’t an heir to the throne ready to usurp him right now.
What may be most frustrating is he’s plenty capable of flashing brilliance. He also has a knack for doing it right when things look most grim.
Thursday’s game was actually a good one for him, as he finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. His double in the second inning was particularly impressive, working an 0-2 count to a full count before ripping an opposite-field line drive to the wall in left field, a ball that would have been a home run in most MLB stadiums. His only out was a drive to the warning track in center.
In 2020, he put together three straight multi-hit games just as his average had fallen to .114 through August.
“Good swings today. Encouraging sign for [Polanco],” manager Derek Shelton said after the game. “He's been working hard. He got the two hits, the ball to center that just missed going out. Very encouraging, good at-bats.”
Moments like that have fueled a tiring conversation around Polanco. Before a season begins, or even in the midst of one, people wonder whether the 29-year-old can find his old form, the form that made him a promising prospect and a contract extension recipient.
In 2020, that didn’t come close to happening. 2021 has lasted all of seven games, so grand conclusions shouldn’t be drawn. At the same time, players spend offseasons describing the hard work they’re putting in to improve, while observers wonder what that improvement might look like. When that player comes out of the gates hitting under the Mendoza line in seven games, fans can get frustrated because they’ve seen this one before.
Thursday could end up being a sign of things to come, or it could be a red herring, but that isn’t really the point.
The Pirates are going to let Polanco try to play his way out of his struggles. Hitting coach Rick Eckstein and assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero have put in a lot of time to help him figure it out. They aren’t doing that to bench him or pay him to sit at home.
Some fans, like those who booed Polanco on Thursday, could be upset about it. They also may just have to get used to it.
Mike Persak: mpersak@post-gazette.com and Twitter @MikeDPersak
First Published: April 9, 2021, 5:04 p.m.
