Gregory Polanco is the Pirates’ top prospect. Last night he made his big league debut. It was OK — he got himself a hit and scored a run — but overall was fairly “meh.” He popped out to shortstop in his first at-bat and lined an 0-1 fastball into left-center field for his first major league hit in the third. He finished 1 for 5. He also had a dubious defensive play, allowing Anthony Rizzo’s long drive to right-center field deflect off the heel of his glove. It was ruled a double and a run scored, but it could’ve been called an error.
Polanco, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic, was hitting .347/.405/.540 with seven home runs, 49 RBI, 15 stolen bases, and 47 runs scored over his first 62 games for Triple-A Indianapolis at the time of his promotion. He came to most people’s attention last month when he turned down a seven-year contract offer that would have expedited his promotion, Jon Singleton-style.
But now he’s in the bigs. And, thankfully, one game in the bigs does not a career make. This guys is gonna be good.
