With Polanco moving to second base due to the arrival of Andrelton Simmons, there should be less pressure on the ankle that required an arthroscopic debridement following the 2019 season and the removal of a bone spur and bone chip following the '20 season. That suggests he should be just fine on those kinds of plays at second base. The biggest question for Polanco has been whether his defense would be strong enough to allow to remain at shortstop. He has added in 45 homers and 29 stolen bases in as well, earning a … His OAA grades by direction at shortstop can give us some insight there. But on the plays to his left and backward, Polanco was about average, grading out as minus-3 to his left and +1 going backward. 27-Year-Old Shortstop SS. The Twins put Polanco toward the top of the lineup against right-handed pitchers for the last two seasons because they believe in his ability to take good at-bats and make solid contact from the left side. When asked by Darren Wolfson of SKOR North if Jorge Polanco would be their opening day shortstop, Twins GM Thad Levin said, “I think we look … Though Polanco could continue to see limited time at shortstop as a backup, moving his experience across the bag will certainly serve as a big defensive upgrade over Luis Arraez, and the range and arm that occasionally proved problematic at short should fit right in at the new position. 2021 Fantasy Outlook . Offense is not Polanco’s downfall; his defense, however, is another story. At the same time, teams also heavily deployed infield shifts, essentially shrinking the amount of territory second basemen need to cover. Bottom Line: Jorge Polanco It's never good to make a list like this early in your career, but Jorge Polanco has done just enough in six seasons to make the cut. One of the Twins prominent offseason moves was signing Andrelton Simmons to be the new regular shortstop. From 2008 to 2019, the number of batted balls charted in the zone of the second baseman decreased by 25%. By the newer, Statcast driven Outs Above Average (OAA) Polanco ranked 37th of 38 qualified shortstops (minus-26 OAA) and Simmons ranked 2nd (+43 OAA). In fact, he learned several months before the end of the season that he'd require surgery on the area for a second straight offseason. While that angle was more comfortable and helped improve his accuracy it cost some velocity that prevented him from converting some outs that required longer throws. Jorge Polanco will be an upgrade at second base, Remainder of Twins/Angels series postponed. The problem is that his -9.1 UZR was dead last (of 128 players to record an inning at the position), and his -8.4 ErrR is reflective of a guy who struggled to throw more often than he didn’t. Jorge Polanco’s Defensive Transformation Jul 10 2019 08:30 PM | Cody Christie in Minnesota Twins Jorge Polanco made his first All-Star appearance this week and he … AVG.157. Some fielding metrics, including Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) have always pegged Polanco … In the wake of a newly positive test, this series has been delayed until further notice. The Twins signed the 25-year-old shortstop to a five-year, $25.75-million contract during spring training. Barring anything unexpected, Jorge Polanco is expected to be … Team: Minnesota Twins (majors) Born: July 5, 1993 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic do Debut: June 26, 2014 (Age 20-356d, 18,290th in MLB history) vs. LAA 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB . Beyond the assessment of Polanco’s individual fit at second base the Twins likely took a look at other players and teams that have attempted this kind of adjustment as part of their decision process. Polanco has completed 1,173 fielding attempts across 496 games in his career, 980 of which came at the shortstop position. Both Polanco and the Twins noted that his left-handed swing in particular was affected last season by his lingering ankle issues, resulting in a regression from a .306/.378/.513 line from that side in '19 to a .227/.287/.318 mark in '20. Jorge Polanco was not a good defensive shortstop, particularly coming in on the ball. He is a lifelong Twins fan and former college pitcher. Rest-of-Season Projections. That was a data limitation that proved increasingly problematic with the rising rate of defensive shifts, which frequently changed the typical starting location for fielders and made it more and more difficult to measure an individual player’s defensive contributions. In 2021, Polanco will earn a base salary of $4,333,334, while carrying a total salary of $4,333,334. We aren’t able to glean much insight about how Polanco might perform at second from that data. Current Reds second baseman (and former Royals’ third baseman) Mike Moustakas successfully made the move to second last offseason after dabbling with it in Milwaukee and the Dodgers have had reasonable success the past few seasons with frequent first baseman Max Muncy spending time at second base. By these calculations a league average defender would have turned 90% of those 120 opportunities into outs. He hit just .258 with a .658 OPS and just four home runs. "Sometimes it was getting good. Simmons brings an elite defensive reputation to Minnesota and, despite the ankle injuries that have slowed him the past couple of seasons, he is a clear upgrade over Polanco. $ 25.75-million contract during spring training suggest Polanco should be just fine those! As the shortstop Polanco at second from that data s a bit of second. Myers, Fla. -- it did n't feel good of those 120 opportunities into outs of $.. 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