2017 Twins Player Predictions: Jorge Polanco

When people talked about the Minnesota Twins top prospects in recent years, the names Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jose Berrios. All the while, Jorge Polanco continued to rise and succeed (and often found his name in the bottom quarter of national Top 100 prospect rankings). In fact, he was the first of the group to get to the big leagues when he was promoted to the big leagues from Ft. Myers in 2014.

That was a cup of coffee, and the same thing happened in 2015. It wasn’t until Eduardo Nunez was traded in July that Polanco came up and was handed the keys to a starting job. After coming through the system playing both shortstop and second base, his struggles at shortstop caused the team to move him to second base last year in spring training. However, his opportunity with the Twins came at shortstop. He struggled, so that will be a big story for Polanco and the Twins in 2017.

Offensively, Polanco has been very consistent as he’s moved up the organizational ladder. In 132 games in AA, he hit .287/.340/.380 (.719). In 97 AAA games, he hit .278/.329/.433 (.762). So far in 78 big league games, he has hit .284/.340/.429 (.769).

Polanco is now out of options. The shortstop job is his. Will he run with it? Can he take the next step and put it all together offensively and defensively?

Below you will find my predictions (or guesses, if you prefer) for Jorge Polanco’s 2017 season. Consider posting your thoughts and your predictions into the comments below. It’s always fun to take a look at the end of the season and see how our predictions look.

KEY NUMBERS

(-9.3) - That is Jorge Polanco’s defensive WAR according to FanGraphs. And that was in just 69 total games. His UZR/150 came in at (-32.3). Those are the numbers that Polanco will need to overcome defensively. To expect him to be a plus defender probably isn’t fair. To hope that he can be an adequate, or even average, defender is fair.

0.857 - That is Polanco’s OPS against left-handed pitchers. Against right-handers, he posted a .718 OPS. He is a natural right-hander, but he’s had many more at bats left-handed in his career. There is more power right-handed.

PREDICTIONS

Jorge Polanco: 456 at-bats, .287/.333/.436 (.769), 23 doubles, 6 triples, 11 home runs.

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Of the starters shown so far, I have Polanco at the fewest games played. First, I think the defense will cause Molitor to want to give him more time off and allow Eduardo Escobar to get into the lineup. I have him playing 135 games.

When Polanco was signed, he was a skinny kid. He has grown a lot, topping 200 pounds within the last couple of years. He has developed some power. That’s not to say he’s a 20 homer hitter, but he can certainly hit the teens in homers with more at bats. He’s got good speed to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

In the second half last season, Polanco hit all over the lineup. Most of his at bats came in the #2 spot in the lineup. That is a good spot for him. However, I would guess we’ll see him all over the lineup, near the top or the bottom from day-to-day.

YOUR TURN

Your turn. Share your thoughts on and predictions on Jorge Polanco in 2017. We can take a look back at the end of the season and see how we did.

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