Don’t Sleep on Jorge Polanco

Just last week, in his article about Trevor Hildenberger’s role with the Twins this year, Tom Froemming mentioned how many Comeback Player of the Year Award candidates the Twins have for 2019. One of them is Jorge Polanco, who appears to be a bit under the radar in a lot of Twins fans discussions. But I think he is bound to surprise a lot of people that may have been taking him for granted.

Last year’s 80-game suspension for testing positive for Stanozolol might have done a number on Polanco’s reputation in the eyes of many Twins fans. It wouldn’t be crazy to assume the same for part of the club ownership and front office. It’s not crazy to imagine he might be one of the main trade pieces Minnesota has, but that might also be true for a lot of guys, such as Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sanó.

Perhaps not giving “Chulo” a chance to prove he belongs in the Twin Cities could be too hasty. Even playing only a half season last year – by the way, he played 77 out of 82 possible games – Polanco managed to post some of the team’s best rate-based numbers. He slashed .288/.345/.427, which would have tied Rosario for best batting average, ranked third in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging.

Back in 2017, Polanco had a terrible year for most of the season, but then he rose after the trade deadline and had an outstanding second half. He slashed .293/.359/.511 in his final 63 games of that year, including an astonishing .373/.413/.686 in 27 August games, with 10 of his 13 total home runs coming after Aug. 1. He also got on base twice in the Twins' only postseason game since 2010.

When putting together Polanco’s numbers since Aug. 1, 2017, you find out that he has been one of Minnesota’s best bats. In 567 PA since then (132 games) he slashed .299/.358/.478, with 16 home runs, 84 RBIs and a 125 wRC+. Granted, his defense is still below average and his 7.8% BB% and 16.6% K% aren’t great either, but for comparison's sake, those last numbers are better than Rosie’s (5.1% BB%, 17.6 K%).

Polanco is all but a lock to start at shortstop as of now. Ehire Adrianza and Ronald Torreyes are the only other two shortstops on the roster. Despite his somewhat weak defense, which did improve a bit with his UZR going from -4.7 to -3.9 over the last two years, Polanco still appears to be a good investment, especially when you notice he’s only 25. There’s a lot of room for improvement. Above all, there’s no one on this team who seems better qualified for a leadoff spot in the lineup. He’s a perfect fit.

But What Could Stand in Polanco's Way?

We all know Polanco is also a great asset, but with the shortstop position looking very healthy down on the farm (MLB ranked Royce Lewis as the second best shortstop prospect in the game), it’s hard to see Polanco staying in a Twins uniform for the remainder of his career... at least as a shortstop. Rocco Baldelli could well try to test Polanco as a second baseman, whenever Jonathan Schoop is hurt or resting, but that hasn’t been done by Paul Molitor since he came up to the majors.

Not only are there long term alternatives at shortstop, such as Lewis and Wander Javier, a couple of other factors might affect his presence this year. For starters, one of the organization’s top prospects, Nick Gordon, could get a shot at the big leagues during this year. After thriving through all the minor league levels, Gordon had an uncharacteristic bad stint right after being promoted to Triple-A, slashing .212/.262/.283 in 99 games with the Red Wings. But he is using that as motivation.

“I definitely feel like even with the struggles that I had, I learned a lot in Triple-A and it humbled me down to, ‘It’s about every game, it’s about every pitch, it’s about every play,'” Gordon said during an MLB Rookie Career Development Program, as posted by Twins beat writer By Do-Hyoung Park. “Ever since the season ended, there’s been that hunger and that drive. It feels like I have something to prove.”

Similar to Polanco, Gordon too can play both shortstop and second base, but chances are when he is promoted, he might take at-bats away from Polanco more than Schoop. But that also depends on how each player performs.

Another possibility, although there is only a remote chance of this happening, is that the Twins replace Polanco with an outside addition. ESPN has speculated that Minnesota could be one of the mystery teams in on Manny Machado.

Having Machado with the Twins would be incredible, but not a simple fit. Who’s the odd man out for him to be in the team? Play him at third base, move Sanó to first and let go of Cron or Austin? Play him at shortstop, bench Polanco and cut Adrianza or Torreyes? There’s a lot of thinking involved. But again, not many people believe those Machado rumors.

What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.

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