Twins Call Up Jorge Polanco Directly From Single-A

When we ranked infielder Jorge Polanco as the eighth-best prospect in the Minnesota Twins organization this spring, we noted that a strong first-half performance in High-A could put him on the fast track to the majors.

Of course, we never would have suspected it would be this fast.

On Thursday, the Twins announced that they have promoted Polanco directly from Single-A to the majors. At age 20, he becomes the youngest player to don a Minnesota uniform since Joe Mauer back in 2004.

Now, before you get too worked up, it bears noting that this move is most likely born out of necessity, and not permanent. With Trevor Plouffe and Eduardo Nunez already on the disabled list, the Twins were left dangerously thin on infielders after Danny Santana pulled up lame while rounding the bases on Wednesday night.

Polanco was the only available player on the 40-man roster with the ability to play everywhere in the infield, so calling him up was the only way for the club to add infield depth without substantial roster tweaking.

Having said that, Polanco deserves plenty of credit for putting himself in a position where Ron Gardenhire and the Twins aren't afraid to potentially put him up against big-league competition. While playing in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League and playing primarily at shortstop, the Dominican was hitting .289/.363/.404 with 20 extra-base hits (five homers), eight steals and a 42-to-35 K/BB ratio in 329 plate appearances.

Polanco was the third-youngest qualified position player in the FSL. Now, he becomes the youngest player in the majors, outside of Texas' Rougned Odor.

In all likelihood, Polanco's stay will be a short one. He's probably being brought up as insurance and might not even get a start. With Plouffe expected to return from the disabled list on Monday, the Twins can slide Pedro Florimon or Eduardo Escobar back into a backup role.

Still, this is a pretty cool and unusual story. Hopefully we'll be able to see the kid get a chance in the coming days.

To make room for Polanco on the 25-man roster, starting pitcher Yohan Pino was optioned to Triple-A.