The Ever Underrated Jorge Polanco

[Cody Pirkl]

Jorge Polanco was a lone bright spot in 2021 and after a slow start to 2022, has once again been one of the Twins best overall players. Despite this, it seems like the Twins second baseman remains underrated. It’s time for that to change.

 

2019 was a banner year for Jorge Polanco. The American League’s starting shortstop in the All Star Game, Polanco followed up a 2018 season in which he posted a 111 wRC+ with a 120 mark in the year of the juiced ball. He was worth a respectable 3.4 Wins Above Replacement despite struggling mightily defensively. Like most players, he took advantage of one of the most offense-friendly environments in years. Unlike several hitters in the Twins lineup, however, Polanco’s juiced 2019 wasn’t a career-best enigma.

While he struggled mightily through an ankle injury in 2020, Polanco overcame early struggles in 2021 to post a 122 wRC+ and post a fantastic 4.0 Wins Above Replacement for the last-place Twins. He slugged 33 homers seemingly out of nowhere. With Byron Buxton on ice and several other players being traded away or struggling, Polanco was quite frankly one of the only reasons to tune into Twins games. After such a season it would be hard to blame him if it became a career-best year. Alas…

Jorge got off to a slowish start in 2022, something that could debatably be expected at this point. In March and April, the Twins second baseman was 17% below league average with an 83 wRC+. He boosted that mark to 8% above in May as the offense picked up league-wide. Instead of remaining at simply acceptable levels of offensive output for a second baseman, however, Polanco has exploded since the beginning of June. Slashing .265/.391/.540, Jorge Polanco has been 64% above the league average hitter since June 1. 

As a whole, Jorge Polanco has posted a .242/.351/.429 triple slash, good for a career-high 124 wRC+. With a couple of months left of the season, if Polanco can continue the output he’s had since June he may just finish with yet another career season. He’s debatably been the Twins best hitter once again for the last two months. This time, however, he’s competing with Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and several white hot rookies such as Alex Kirilloff and Jose Miranda for that title.

In short, players such as Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, etc. rightfully have gotten a lot of credit for being the premier players on the Twins roster. They draw a lot of attention both nationally and locally due to their big salaries and eye popping physical skills. Meanwhile, Jorge Polanco has been showing up every year aside from an injury weakened 2020 and simply gone to work. He made his first trip to the IL this season of his entire career for back issues, and immediately contributed upon his activation. He’s otherwise been one of the Twins few legitimate everyday players, and in addition to the quantity he provides, the quality of his production has been a boon over the years for a Twins team that has been up and down.

Jorge Polanco deserves to be in the discussion as at least a piece of the backbone of the Minnesota Twins. Few players have been such reliable everyday players and it’s hard to find another player on the roster who so consistently provides value in all facets of the game. 

We should be appreciating Jorge Polanco. He’s one of the main reasons the Twins have remained in first place for the majority of 2022 and has had attention diverted from himself by big names such as Byron Buxton as well as focal points of disappointment such as the bullpen struggles. Jorge Polanco is one of the best players the Twins have. Do you agree?

 

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[strumdatjag]

Years ago, my wife and I took a trip to Cedar Rapids to see the number one prospect Byron Buxton.  Jose Berrios was pitching that day.  Yet, the future Twins player who impressed us the most that day was Jorge Polanco.  He has never been under our radar since.  

[tony&rodney]

Personally, I have considered Polanco the best overall player on the team for five years. He is good.

[LA VIkes Fan]

Polanco is arguably our most consistent, "best" hitter this year. Good in the clutch, good RBI man, good run producer. He also seems to have found a solid defensive home at 2B. His abilities also make us able to have guys like Steer as a trade chip. Frankly, I would put him in the 4 hole in the order and just leave him there for the rest of the season. 

He is clearly part of the core for the next 2-3 years. We're lucky to have him, and on a team friendly contract to boot. 

[bean5302]

Polanco's a very good player and it's well recognized here and across the league. This year he's really made a big change in plate discipline and it's paid off with an elite walk rate which I wouldn't have expected, and I think that further elevates his game quite a bit. Defensive metrics continue to be very divided on him and it has a big impact on fWAR vs bWAR. 

I think the question on Polanco is about how much the Twins gain or lose by having Arraez as the starting 2B and what Polanco could bring to the team in terms of trade value.

[Doctor Gast]

Polanco always has good ABs, he drives the count. Another attribute of Polanco is his durability. He plays everyday wether he's healthy or not. This can be negative because when he plays hurt his production goes down, longer he plays hurt further his production goes down.  When he's hurt he needs to communicate with Baldelli and not play. The latter 1/2 of 2019 until they they took him off SS he played with tremendous pain and had 2 surgeries. We need Polanco in the line-up as much as possible so keep him off SS.

[roger]

4 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Polanco is arguably our most consistent, "best" hitter this year. Good in the clutch, good RBI man, good run producer. He also seems to have found a solid defensive home at 2B. His abilities also make us able to have guys like Steer as a trade chip. Frankly, I would put him in the 4 hole in the order and just leave him there for the rest of the season. 

He is clearly part of the core for the next 2-3 years. We're lucky to have him, and on a team friendly contract to boot. 

Do you realize what you said, “and just leave him there for the rest of the season?”  It is forbidden that a Twin, any Twin, should ever hit in the same spot of the lineup for a week, much less a season.

Thinking back to those Braves teams I grew up with, I would guess that Aaron hit third and Matthews fourth for years, not just weeks.

[ashbury]

Every time Jorge is at bat and they show a closeup, it's the eyes that get me.  Laser beams, all the time.  He doesn't get a hit every time up, but it's never ever from lack of focus.

[DocBauer]

I LOVE ME some Byron Buxton. Offensively and defensively he is just a difference maker and we are just part of his baseball world when he's out there. He's just that good, even being sub-human as he is now, fighting through his knee issue. Not a team in baseball that wouldn't want Buck on their team. 

But Polanco is so underated its amazing. He plays a good, sometimes great 2B, and only gets better. He hits, gets OB, seldom SO, makes great contact, has power, and comes through in the clutch. CRUNCH time happens, I want Arraez and Polanco up to bat. No disrespect to Buxton or AC4. 

Kirilloff and Miranda, unless we do something stupid and trade one of them, are going to be part of the heart ofthe order for many years to come. But Polanco is so good, and so versatile, he could hit 2-5 and be just as dangerous and effective. 

And he's not exactly old. He's a keeper, IMO, and a re-sign the next year or so.