PITTSBURGH — Gregory Polanco will not play on Sunday for the Pirates as they go for a series split with the Miami Marlins.
It’s not all that unusual for Polanco to get a day off against a tough left-hander (the toughness of Jeff Locke is probably debatable). But it’s about more than that.
Since his quick return from what appeared to be a serious ankle injury at the end of May, Polanco is hitting .182/.250/.182. Polanco said he’s feeling fine physically now. But it’s possible that over-compensating for the ankle at first did something to his swing.
“I feel good with my body and everything, I’m just missing the ball too much,” he said. “I don’t know. I want to know why. I want to know what’s wrong with my swing. But if told you something, it would be a lie. I don’t know what happened.”
Polanco will take the day off from the field, but if anything, he plans on doing even more work than he would on a usual game day.
“Just keep swinging,” he said. “If you’re not swinging, you’re not doing anything (to fix it). So, I’m trying to swing and keep my mindset the same. I know it’s going to change. I trust myself and my work.”
Polanco spent the first part of the season — before it was derailed by three consecutive injuries — trying to get his swing to be shorter and more direct to the ball. Manager Clint Hurdle thinks that part has actually shown improvement.
“I think his directness to the ball is improving, we’re not getting barrel,” Hurdle said. “It’s either off the end or closer to the label.”
That’s backed up by the Statcast data, which shows no barreled balls and just one solid contact out of 27 balls put into play by Polanco since his return.
“If you go back and look at the video tape, he’s just off the barrel,” Hurdle said. “It’s not some huge disconnect.”
Hurdle thinks Polanco could be even shorter with his swing in order to get the barrel out into the strike zone more quickly and make more solid contact.
“We’re trying to find a way where we can identify the too-long part of it and get a little bit more crisp to the ball,” Hurdle said.
TAILLON’S TURN
Hurdle would not give a specific pitch count or inning limit for Jameson Taillon’s return to action on Monday. Early in the process, he emphasized patience as Taillon worked through the mental and physical hurdles of his cancer diagnosis and surgery. But Taillon has exceed most expectations, and will get back on the mound in an MLB game just five weeks after his surgery.
Hurdle said as the process went on, it became clear to him that the aggressive path was the right one for Taillon. He said that Taillon’s maturity and the green-light from the medical team were important factors.
“[It’s] trust in Jameson,” he said. “Different input from different people and making sure we were all comfortable and committed to the information that we were getting, that it was good and it was accurate and that we weren’t overstepping or rushing anything. We’re just taking the next proper step at the next proper time.”
STARTING LINEUP
Gm 63: #Pirates (27-35) vs
NOTES
Chad Kuhl said he won’t prepare any differently for his next start, even with two extra days off. … Francisco Cervelli (concussion) worked out before the game, but there was no official update on his condition.
