When Will Rocco's Faith in Jorge Polanco's Bat Be Shaken?

Well, for starters, it should have been shaken enough to not scribble out the "Black Hole Line-Up Card" (Trademark pending)

3rd : Garver

4th: Planco

5th: Sano

Good Lord, i'm not one for knee jerk reactions, but if I was the GM...Baldi would have received a looooooooong talking to.

You have your weakest hitters getting the least at bats.

I'm sorry, but Arraez thrives a bit more at the top of the order than the bottom.

With Donaldson back, I would make Polanco the reserve, for now.

Something has to be done with Sano. We can't always wait for him to start tearing the ball. Exept we don't have a ready replacement yet, do we?

Maybe it's time to visit that old saying, " Youth must be served" and look at some of our prospects?

Polanco is an average hitter? Gasp! He's going to just hit .260? Horror! Did I miss something? Did I miss the MLB.com article that said "Twins Success in 2021 Rides on Jorge Polanco's bat"????

The fact is that if Polanco hits .260 with 15 HR and 62 RBI that's just fine - after all, we've got Buxton, Cruz, Donaldson, Sano, Garver, Kepler, and Arraez who are all supposed to be mashing around him.

Polanco's not the problem. Never was, never will be. Because he can hit and will get out of slumps.

The problem is Sano and Garver, who literally cannot hit the ball and take MONTHS to come around. It's unacceptable to have 4 and 5 hitters going 0-32 in a 3-game series with 25 strikeouts. It's a killer. I'm increasingly worried about Kepler also.

I'm happier to see Garlick up at the plate than Sano, Garver, or Kepler at this point.

Arraez should be at the top, no matter how well or poorly Polanco or anyone else is hitting.

Polanco and Sano should be "rested" frequently while we determine if "others" could do better.  (Arraez is my starting 2B-man going forward as long as Donaldson is in the lineup).

When the team is 2 for 26 with RISP during the losing streak it's NOT just Polanco.  But he is a large part of it, with Sano head and shoulders above everybody else for futility.  

Polanco is an average hitter? Gasp! He's going to just hit .260? Horror! Did I miss something? Did I miss the MLB.com article that said "Twins Success in 2021 Rides on Jorge Polanco's bat"????

I think what you missed is that the article is merely suggesting Polanco should bat lower in the order, not in the top four. It is not suggesting that everything rides on his bat.

Polanco will come out of his slump and still get his share of walks but I agree with you that he should hit at the bottom of the line up until he does. Sano' is more of a concern and should sit more often and bat 9th when he doesn't until he comes around. I think he needs to be shaken up a bit.

Interesting article, Nick. Would prefer you didn't feel the need to write about this subject. Unfortunately, this kid just isn't getting it done like he and the Twins expect. Hopefully, the season is only a couple weeks long and this is an early season slump.

It really seems like Minnesota sports fans root for their players to fail rather than succeed. And as soon as they succeed they want them traded lol. Just my perception.

Can we get James Rowson back?

Can we get James Rowson back?

Exactly what I was thinking. The offense has gone south ever since he left.

Cave, Garver, Sano, Polanco, Rooker - too many in a slump at the same time - we have to find a way to pump some life into the lineup.   That is just too much automatic outs.  I would love to see them all come to life, but do not lump them in the lineup.  

Can we get James Rowson back?

Interesting comment. Gotta wonder if Rowson made that much of a difference. Unfortunately, we will never know.

I think it's fair to raise questions about Polanco post PED production. Yes, he was banned in 2018, but he didn't sign an extension until the 2019 offseason (Feb). And his 2019 breakout pre-All Star was much better than the second half. Since then he's been replacement player level at best.... Could weaning off PEDs be an issue? That's got to be fair game when discussing his production imho.

I was agreeing with the article all the alarming comings until I saw the date at the bottom of my computer screen: 4/14/21. Not the middle of April yet to say anything

Simmons to IL, Riddle and Kiriloff back on squad and starting game one of doubleheader today.  

The author laid it out perfectly. This, along with Colome, seem like the biggest talking point in the early season.

Polanco has hit like a bottom third of the order bat for nearly two years.

More than anything I hope Polanco turns it around. Until then, he needs to be dropped to the 9 spot and given more days off.

And that turnaround may not happen this season as his LHB swing looks like it needs to be completely rebuilt. He just looks terrible right now, regardless of the results.

Polanco went 3 for 6 today, and I think we will see his average rise in the coming weeks. Hopefully he improves his left-handed swing and starts making more hard contact. I don't suspect we'll ever see power from him like in 2019, but I have some confidence that he will regress back to the mean.

Not only Polanco, but Kepler, Sano, and Cave as well. I think some roster shakeups might need to happen soon.

Despite his struggles, I believe Polanco IS a good hitter. But but man has he been struggling! Really disappointed as he had a nice spring,

Now, to be fair he hit when Molitor was the manager as well, so this isn't all about Rocco seeing him produce. His use of an illegal substance has been brought up. But IIRC it was one of MANY players who were guilty of a banned substance and not necessarily steroid related. I think that distinction has to be made as he hit before Rocco, and he's hit since came on board. I just think his timing has been completely out of whack for whatever reason. Maybe he's coming out of it now. But be should absolutely drop down otherwise until he figures stuff out. And a day or two off wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I mean, yes, I’d drop Polanco in the order, specifically as it relates to Arraez’s position.

I was concerned with how many of these guys were swinging the bat this spring, and some of that has carried over.

On the other hand...(doesn’t include today’s 14 innings)...

Polanco’s BABiP: 147...he’s likely to turn back into 2018 Polanco at some point.

Garver’s BABiP: 143

Sano’s BABiP: 111...meanwhile, his SO% is exactly the same as 2019, BB% higher

Twins OPS is 3rd overall in the AL; they lead the AL in OBP (you read that correctly)

Twins team SO% is exactly league average and their BB% is better than league ave.

It warps the mind, but this is what baseball looks like now.

What the Twins haven’t done is make the big pitch, or the big play, or the big hit. That will probably turn at some point.