How M’s opening day star Polanco feels different this year

SEATTLE – Jorge Polanco admitted he probably won’t lay down another bunt anytime soon.

“Yeah, probably not,” he said with a laugh.

But aside from that one curious decision, it was a near-perfect start to 2025 for the switch-hitting Seattle Mariners slugger – especially given all that he endured last season.

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Polanco, who is coming off knee surgery last fall after a rough 2024 campaign, capped a 3-for-3 night at the plate by hitting a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Mariners to a 4-2 win over the Athletics in Thursday’s season opener. Polanco hit two singles to right field off two-time All-Star Luis Severino earlier in the game and then went deep off reliever José Leclerc, sending a 2-2 fastball over the center-field fence for a 413-foot blast.

It was quite a contrast from last year, when Polanco’s first three-hit game didn’t come until July 27.

“It’s very gratifying,” Polanco said. “It was a special game. I went through a lot of stuff last year. I worked hard during the offseason to get better. I’m feeling really good. It’s just awesome, man.”

After the Mariners acquired Polanco in a January 2024 trade, he sputtered to one of the worst seasons of his career last year. He hit just .213 with a .651 OPS, while battling through nagging knee and hamstring issues that limited him to 118 games. It was a far cry from his decade-long run of production with the Minnesota Twins, where he hit .269 with a .780 OPS over 10 seasons.

Shortly after the 2024 season ended, Polanco had surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee.

It initially looked like his Mariners tenure had come to an end this past November when the team declined a $12 million option for 2025. But as the offseason wore on and the M’s still had a hole in their infield, they turned back to Polanco and signed him to a one-year, $7 million contract in early February.

With a healthy knee, the 31-year-old Polanco put together a strong spring in Arizona. He hit .308 in Cactus League play, with three homers and three doubles in 39 at-bats.

And that certainly carried over into Thursday’s opener.

“He had a really good spring training,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He came back as quickly as he could. We tried to be as smart as we could about it coming back from that surgery. But his at-bats just kept getting better and better, and the line drives (were coming from) both sides of the plate.

“And then tonight was just another indication that he’s really swinging it, seeing the ball well. … He just was really locked in and has really seen that progression come from spring training.”

Polanco said the surgery alleviated the pain and pressure in his knee, which has made a big difference at the plate. In particular, he said he feels much more comfortable hitting from the left side. He hit just .198 as a lefty last year, which was down 71 points from his previous career average.

Notably, all three of Polanco’s hits on Thursday came from the left side.

“Way (more) comfortable,” Polanco said. “It’s better. I got a little bit of pressure out of my knee and it just feels really good. I feel like I can do a lot more things hitting now.”

Polanco also debuted his new position on Thursday. After spending most of his career as a middle infielder – including last season at second base – Polanco is slated to play third base this year.

It didn’t take long for the ball to find Polanco at the hot corner. His first action came in the second inning, when he snagged a 100.1 mph line drive off the bat of Miguel Andujar.

“I just feel comfortable,” Polanco said of his new position. “I feel like I can play really good third base.”

The only blip in Polanco’s night came in the sixth inning, when he decided to lay down a bunt with one out and runners on first and second. In his postgame interview with ROOT Sports’ Jen Mueller, Polanco said he saw the third baseman playing back and was trying to bunt for a base hit. It resulted in a well-placed sacrifice bunt, but it wasn’t the right scenario to trade an out for advancing the runners.

Yet that ended up being just a footnote in an otherwise rousing start to Polanco’s 2025 campaign.

“Having him healthy, having him swinging the bat, really helps you drive in runs in the middle of the lineup,” Wilson said. “… It was really great to see him swing the bat like he did tonight.”

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