The Pittsburgh Pirates announced via twitter tonight that Gregory Polanco will be on his way to Pittsburgh tomorrow for Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs. Neil Walker was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to an appendectomy on Monday. Polanco will take his place on the roster. For Indianapolis this season, Polanco has a .347/.405/540 slash line in 62 games with seven homers and 15 stolen bases. He was recently moved to the lead-off spot and will likely take that role with the Pirates, although the absence of Walker might temporarily change those plans.
The @Pirates intend to recall top prospect OF Gregory Polanco (@El_Coffee) before tomorrow’s game. pic.twitter.com/LTThaYglS8
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 10, 2014
Polanco himself tweeted out the news a few minutes prior.
The wait is over…. My dream has officially come true ⚾️ Pittsburgh, see you mañana!!
— Gregory Polanco ☕️ (@El_Coffee) June 10, 2014
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Give Walker credit–that’s a bit above and beyond for taking one for the team.
I’m salivating at the thought of Marte, Cutch and Polanco in one OF! Don’t give up on Marte yet, the kid has talent.
This is going to be fun. I usually DVR and watch the games late, but tomorrow is also the big charity phone a thon (where we get to check out the players wives 😉 ) and we usually donate and get one of the gift bags. I will be watching live.
At least the appendectomy shoudn’t keep Neil out longer than the 15 days. If some other guys can get hot like Ike Davis and Marte, they can take care of the loss. Alvarez & Cutch are producing, so that helps.
I’d slide Polanco right into the 2 slot for now, but if he gets hot I would bat him right after Alvarez to give him some true protection.
I like Polanco in the one hole for now…mainly for lack of a better option. Harrison is nice at 2 because it forces him to take a few more pitches and he makes contact. But I don’t have a problem with them flipped either.
Unlike Marte, Harrison doesn’t need the plate discipline. He is a true “see it, hit it” batter. His numbers on 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 and 1-1 counts are off the charts. On first pitches, he’s hitting .455 with a 1.455 OPS. You actually WANT him to swing at the first pitch he thinks he can hit.
In other words, he’s a Brewer in Pirate clothing 🙂
Another thing I really like is Harrison actually has showed a little more patience since he has been starting more games. Off the bench he is hyper aggressive. His current .327 obp is fringy at the top and acceptable if he was stealing more bases and getting himself two second base more. His extra base ability helps but is even more reason for him to be in the 2 hole. His career .291 obp is another glaring reason not to be at 1 also…but they can run him out there until he cools off.
Gotta feel bad for Neil. He goes on DL and it’s not the biggest news – more an afterthought. Not the injury you’d expect to go down with. Probably puts a crimp in his deserved ASG bid. Hope he gets better quick.
Btw, tomorrow will be the first regular season MLB game El Coffee will have ever seen in person.
Earlier today before learning about Walker, we sold back two of our four tix for tomorrow. But that means we still have two, so I’ll be there!
Wish I was going to be there as well man. Enjoy!
Very great to hear…I wondered about this out loud earlier tonight once he wasn’t in the lineup. He is someone you are very unlikely to leave out of the lineup even against a LH no matter what the Indy announcer said about him still being on the bench. Him being held out tonight was a definite precursor to this call up…so very, very glad he’s coming to Pittsburgh. I HATE that the Bucs have to lose Walker though…especially the way he’s played this year.
I guess that means Harrison is regular 2B until Walker comes back or he proves too brutal to bare. Big hit to the lineup unless JayHay rediscovers his May spark but great chance to put Gregory into everyday lineup without controversy. Marte lite it up too tonight. Presumably trade talks for Snider and Tabby are on a fortnight hiatus.
Josh is still barreling up pretty much everything. They might not be dropping for him the way they were two weeks ago, but he’s not rolling over weak grounders.
I agree. Harrison isn’t slumping, he’s simply inherited some poor luck. If I’m the coaching staff, I don’t change anything with him. He’s still making good contact, there is nothing to fix really.
He’s also not Neil Walker…wish we had our whole lineup going strong now that Polanco is here.
You’re right…it is a HUGE hit to lose Walker from the lineup. Cole first and now Walker. Hopefully Locke and JHay continue to step up and we can progress forward and have Polanco come up big!
Marte finally pulled out of his funk tonight, and McCutchen was on fire. This could get interesting!
I was at the game, Marte got something going, but let’s not get too excited. His late double just snuck past Rizzo and had nothing on it. His swings and misses still looked pretty awful. He had solid contact once. It’s a start, but he’s still got issues. It has been good to see him running the bases smartly though.
Then again bucsws2014 just yesterday Marte had several extremely hard-hit balls that were unluckily placed…so sometimes you have to get some luck to get back on track.