Salk: Why is Jorge Polanco hitting so much better this year?

Apr 16, 2025, 12:55 AM

Host, Brock & Salk (6-10 a.m.)

I know there a lot of people that get upset when I say “That’s baseball,” but I’d like to believe that many of those people are football fans trying to bring that mentality to a game that is inherently different.

Seattle Mariners rookie Ben Williamson gets first career hit

Baseball is played over 162 games for a reason: its ups, downs, and bouts of both good and bad luck need lots of time to balance out. It’s a game where stats are often measured in averages rather than totals because of that variability. And while teams ultimately are judged by wins and losses, it’s really hard (and often counterproductive) to make many definitive statements about much of anything because so many parts of the game are constantly in flux.

Baseball is unlike anything else. And the Seattle Mariners’ Jorge Polanco is proving it right now.

He was, in a word, atrocious last year. Awful. He missed his career averages by 31 points in batting, 35 points in on-base and 82 points in slugging. And it wasn’t because he was unlucky.

Or was it?

His batting average on balls in play (BABIP) was down 27 points from his career average and 22 points lower than the league average during that time. His hard-hit rate was actually a few points better than his career norm. The biggest difference was his strikeout rate, which was up considerably.

Regardless, he was benched because he was hurting the team. His contract option wasn’t picked up by the Mariners because he wasn’t likely to be worth the money. And there wasn’t much of a market for his services because the league was likely concerned both about his health and drop in productivity.

That same player is now slashing .378/.385/.622 for a 1.007 OPS. Amazingly, that production has actually improved with runners in scoring position. He has been nothing less than a savior for the Mariners’ offense as it has limped through the first two weeks of the season. And he’s being paid less to do it.

How does that happen?

First of all, I don’t know. If I did, I’d be getting rich helping baseball executives find players who are struggling and acquiring them for pennies on the dollar. I’m not sure anyone does. But let’s look at a few possibilities.

Why is Jorge Polanco hitting now?

• 1. Time and patience.

This is often the hardest reason to accept, partly because eventually you have to know when to cut the cord on players that can’t do it anymore. But Polanco is not the first nor will he be the last to struggle making the transition to Seattle. While some have done it well (Nelson Cruz, Eugenio Suárez, Victor Robles and Luke Raley come to mind), the list on the other side is considerably longer.

Learning a new town, a new team, and a new stadium (especially the one that suppresses offense more than any other in baseball) can be hard. It is probably even harder when you are dealing with a knee injury and fighting through it to be there for your new teammates as Polanco was in 2024. Maybe even harder after spending a decade in one place (Minnesota) that does things very differently.

It’s easy to want to part ways with players when they struggle to adjust. But if Polanco’s start leads to a major bounceback season, it might provide some solid evidence that showing patience with a new player is warranted. Maybe even more patience than anyone wants to show.

• 2. Pressure.

There is a lot less on Polanco this season. In 2024, he was brought in to hit behind Julio Rodríguez and drive in runs. He was asked to protect a young star and put up numbers himself. He was the team’s biggest offseason addition, and he cost them a few pieces they liked.

In 2025, he started opening night hitting sixth and was pinch-hit for the following night.

I don’t know what he was feeling, but we know the weight of expectations can dramatically affect performance. Just ask Rory McIlroy what his last 11 years were like. Taking some of the pressure off Polanco might have helped him feel a lot more comfortable.

• 3. Health.

According to Polanco and the team, his knee has been much healthier this season. That should give him the confidence to do his thing. Unfortunately, his side has been bothering him. Not just a little bit, but enough to keep him out of the lineup entirely on certain days, prevent him from hitting right-handed, and relegate him to being the designated hitter. Side injuries are notoriously difficult for baseball players, so it’s hard for me to put too much stock in the injury being the biggest change.

• 4. Nothing.

Yeah, nothing. Nothing is different. Maybe he worked on something new in the offseason or made a few swing adjustments with his personal coach, Osvaldo Diaz, who also coaches Julio and Randy Arozarena. Maybe this is just a hot start to a season that will ultimately end in similarly disappointing fashion. Or maybe last year was just an outlier in a game that needs lots of time to make any definitive statements.

Maybe it’s just baseball!