BRADENTON, Fla. — Clint Hurdle described his exit interview with Gregory Polanco last September as one of the most honest he's had during his time as a manager.
Seated in Hurdle's office at PNC Park, Polanco spent much of the meeting trying to reassure Hurdle that he was going to dedicate the next four months to rebuilding the body that failed him in 2017.
Nearly four months later, a lighter, leaner, supremely motivated Polanco reported to Pirate City for spring training Saturday morning, and he arrived equipped with the lessons learned from what he described as the biggest mistake of his career.
"I recognize I didn’t do anything," Polanco told DKPittsburghSports.com, describing his exit interview with Hurdle. "I couldn’t help the team because I was injured the whole season. I let him know that I need to be healthy and that I was going to prepare. We talked straight. I tell him, ‘I’m a man, I know that if you don’t do the work in here you’re gone.’ In the big leagues, you do the work or they’ll bring somebody else in. That’s it, bro."
Sitting at his locker stall with his right hand inside a new, black glove, Polanco recalled how it all went wrong. Three stints on the disabled list — all the result of a left hamstring strain — limited him to 108 games. He was ineffective when he was on the field, too, batting .251/.305/.391 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs to go with a career-worst OPS+ of 81. Any success at the plate — Polanco batted .387 in 17 games during July — was soon followed by more hamstring issues.
Hurdle theorized that the injury plagued Polanco throughout the season, particularly his fluid swing. Polanco has shown raw power since he joined the organization in 2009, reaching his first breakthrough in 2012 when he hit 16 home runs for Class A West Virginia. He made his major league debut in June 2014 and batted .301 through his first 23 games, only to see his average drop to .235 by the end of the season. He followed his debut with impressive seasons in 2015 and 2016, registering a OPS+ of 106 in the latter.
Polanco hit 22 home runs in 2016. However, he thought if he focused on upper-body workouts over the offseason that more muscle mass would allow him to hit more balls over the Clemente Wall at PNC Park.
"It was stupid," he said Saturday. "It [started with], 'Oh, I want to hit more home runs.' It didn't work.'
Rather than returning home to work with his trainer Kelvin Terrero, Polanco spent his offseason training at Estadio Quisqueya, the ballpark of Dominican Winter League teams Leones del Escogido and Tigres del Licey, in his hometown of Santo Domingo. There, he went through an offseason program that lacked structure. He didn't spend much time on lower-body workouts, opting instead to spend more time in the weight room while mixing in some running on the field.
He achieved his goal of gaining muscle mass, but it came at a cost.
"I got so big that I couldn't do what I do best," he explained. "It took away my quickness."
His athleticism was gone and not focusing on lower-body strength led to the left hamstring strain that persisted throughout the season. Shortly after the Pirates missed the postseason for a second consecutive year, Polanco called Terrero, pleading with his old trainer to help him fulfill his potential in the major leagues.
"I tell him that, ‘Man, I need you back,'" Polanco said. "He say, 'You know, I don’t know why you left.’ It was stupid. You know, maybe it wasn’t stupid. Sometimes you just want to get better and it doesn’t work. You have to trust the process. Trust in what you got and the people around you and that they can help you. That’s the lesson that happened to me. I’m taking that for life now. Now I know I have to keep the same people around me."
Equipped with a specific workout plan from the Pirates, Polanco began his training in the final week of October. Working alongside other ballplayers, Polanco focused on strengthening his legs, lower back, shoulders and core. Additionally, he had to shed body fat while also maintaining muscle. He'd wake up at roughly 6 a.m. every day and head to Jardin Botanico, a botanical national garden in the heart of his hometown.
There, he flipped tractor tires, hit tires with a sledge hammer, performed agility drills around cones and ran sprints up and down a hill. Not only did he lose eight pounds, but Polanco trimmed his body fat percentage, and now, he proclaimed his health is at "100 percent."
"Gregory wanted to be big and strong," Neal Huntington said. "He heard he needed to be bigger and stronger to hit more home runs. The challenge with the offseason is these guys are on their own. We can give them a program. ... He worked his tail off, so I don’t want to criticize what he did in ’17 in any way, shape or form because he worked really hard. It might not have been the best thing for him, so to see him lean and athletic again is really exciting. It’s better for him physically, and the raw power is more than enough with him being lean and athletic."
With Andrew McCutchen gone, Starling Marte has moved back to center field, but Hurdle didn't consider trying to move Polanco back to left, where he made his first 24 defensive starts last season. That vacancy will likely be manned by either Adam Frazier, Sean Rodriguez or Jordan Luplow.
Hurdle told reporters that although analytics showed Polanco would be an above-average defender in left, he neglected to take into account the human element of such a move. Polanco was uncomfortable there. The hope within the organization is his offseason workout program, as well as staying in right, will produce better results for the Pirates in 2018.
Hurdle expressed confidence that the Pirates have constructed a plan to prevent Polanco's hamstring injury from reoccurring and that the coaching staff can help the former top prospect fulfill his potential.
"There’s more in the tank," Hurdle said. "There's a really good player in there I believe we can help get out there on a consistent basis and so does he."
When Polanco walked into the clubhouse Saturday, David Freese jumped up from the stool in front of his locker and rubbed Polanco on the stomach. Other teammates, coaches and staff members remarked on the new-look Polanco.
All Polanco did was smile. Now, he wants to prove his new look will help him avoid another difficult conversation with Hurdle at the end of the season.
"This is the most motivated I've ever been," Polanco said. "I’m happy to be back here because I missed baseball so much. You can’t imagine how much I missed baseball."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
