The Pittsburgh Pirates have certainly had a successful start to the 2016 season. Shortly after the Bucs downed the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Opening Day, Jeff Passan of YAHOO! Sports reported that the team had agreed to a five-year contract extension with outfielder Gregory Polanco. The deal is said to be worth $30 million, and includes two club options. Two years ago, Polanco rejected a seven-year, $25 million extension that came with three club options. The deal has not been officially announced, though that should come later this week.
Polanco, 24, debuted in the majors for Pittsburgh in 2014. Since then, he has shown flashes of the promise that once made him a top prospect, but has yet to sustain that level of play over a full season. In two seasons, Polanco is a career .249 hitter. His sophomore campaign in 2015 was markedly better than his freshman year. He batted .256, a full twenty-one points higher than his rookie batting average, with a .701 OPS, nine home runs, and fifty-two RBI.
If he can keep improving at the plate, Polanco can be a valuable asset to the Pirates. Though primarily a right fielder, he can play all three outfield positions competently. One area in which he must improve is his strikeout rate. Polanco struck out 121 times in 593 at-bats last season. For the sake of comparison, he took just fifty-five walks, for a BB/K ratio of 0.46.
With improved plate discipline, Polanco would be a tremendous weapon. His power is still developing, but he is capable of double-digit home runs in a season. He’s also a legitimate threat on the basepaths; he stole fourteen bags in limited playing time during his rookie season, and upped that number to twenty-seven in 2015. If he can get on base more by turning some of those strikeouts into walks, he could potentially steal thirty-five bases in a season. Clearly, the Pirates like what they’ve seen from him thus far. Now we get to see if their investment pays off.
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