BRADENTON, Fla. -- Gregory Polanco's always been a star and, in his own inimitable, inauspicious way, he's always known it.
That began when he blasted onto the big-league scene a half-dozen years ago with that epic three-game series in Miami -- 9 for 17, for those whose memories fail -- and it resurfaced in ... well, spurts. He had a superlative first half in 2016. A superlative second half in 2018. And he got hurt. And then he got really hurt. And then, this past summer, he tried to return too soon from reconstructive shoulder surgery, and he had to be shut back down.
"Frustrating," as he'd worded it for me Wednesday, before the Pirates' 6-3 exhibition loss to the Red Sox at LECOM Park. "So frustrating. I can't even tell you."
But he did, anyway.
He spoke of the missed opportunities in his star-crossed career, stuck for months now at a seemingly symbolic 666 games with a deeply disappointing .252/.320/.420 slash line and 78 home runs. For someone who's forever reported to work with all five tools -- and the drive to match -- no, that's not nearly sufficient.
"I always wanted to do more. I know I could do more."
He spoke of the missed opportunities with the team itself, not having won a blessed thing despite three playoff berths, and how he's the team's most tenured healthy player now that his best bud, Starling Marte, was dealt to the Diamondbacks this winter.
"I miss him. I miss a lot of those guys. But I want to win here. It's what I want."
He spoke of redemption, too. But he did so, as ever, on his terms.
When I asked if he felt he had something to prove, he initially appeared defensive, then smiled and answered, "To me? Yes. I have to prove something for myself. I know my heart and my mind. I can do better. I know I can do better. It's not about what anybody else thinks or says about me. No pressure. I have to prove it to me."
This would be an ideal time. Not just for himself -- he's 28, and he's got only one more guaranteed year on his contract after this one -- but for all involved.
Because, man, is he ever needed.
I look at the Pirates' 2020 lineup and see four fairly certain elements in Bryan Reynolds, Josh Bell, Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier, two iffy ones in Colin Moran and Jacob Stallings in that both were reasonably productive last summer, one dubious one in Jarrod Dyson ... and then Polanco.
He's the variable. The swing vote.
If he lapses into his worst self -- and we've all seen it -- where he tries to pull the ball and rolls-over endlessly to second, then half this lineup or more is a gray area. Whereas if he rises up, if he somehow reclaims that elite form -- and we've all seen that, too -- where he drives the ball to all fields, where he rips that long Dave Parker-like swing into real power ... yeah, that.
So when he cited "No pressure" to me, I felt obligated to follow up. Because he's got to understand that his best self isn't an ordinary player. Not with all that talent. He's got to be a star.
"Thank you," he began his reply, even though I actually hadn't intended that as a compliment. "Yeah, that's my mindset. I know that. I'm not going to say that, but in my mind, I know I'm not here to be an ordinary player. I know that. That's why I've been working so hard to be healthy, to be all the way back. That's why I'm so happy right now to feel so good."
From the surgery, of course.
On this day, after two spring starts as a designated hitter, Polanco was back in right field and, thus, happier than ever. Only two balls came his way in his five innings, a bouncing single and a routine flyout, so he never got to use the arm.
"I wanted to," he told me afterward. "I practice it. I know it's good. But the game is different. You have to do it in a game."
At the plate, he singled sharply to right off Boston's lefty starter, Martin Perez, in addition to a flyout to center and a swinging strikeout over a curve that spooked him so badly he flung down his bat in disgust.
"It was a good pitch," he'd admit. "But I want to hit everything right now."
It's shown in a mostly aggressive swing to date. And while that sort of behavior's gotten Polanco buried in the past, it clearly won't under Derek Shelton.
"Yeah's been really aggressive, but I don't know that he's been chasing," Shelton said. "I mean, his single today, that was a rocket off a lefty, so that's really good. That's what you want."
Gregory Polanco slides hard into the Red Sox's Michael Chavis Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla. - APHe then referenced another aggressive display, Polanco sliding so hard into second base in the second inning that he broke up a double play and briefly stunned Boston's Michael Chavis, the infielder at the bag.
"Greg needs to play," Shelton said when that came up. "That's a hard slide. He did other things. Just needs to get out there and play."
And stay out there, ideally. And be his best self.
Josh Bell sits at the stall next to Polanco. Bell's been in the organization a few years now, too. He's aware of Polanco's hurt, both individually and in having lost opportunities and Marte and all else, and he's taken up the cause.
"Greg's my guy now," Bell told me. "We know what he can be. He knows what he can be. Nobody has to tell him that. Nobody has to push him. I'm just here to remind him of that. We love him, and we need him."
• Don't get weirded out by that pic I snapped for the very top up there. That's Rick Eckstein keeping Polanco focused on upper-body movement by stabilizing the legs. The man does some neat things. This was Wednesday morning before batting practice.
• Mitch Keller's second spring start -- 1 2/3 innings, two runs, three hits, three Ks, walk -- was as much of a mixed bag as it might appear. Fanned the first two men he faced, walked the next, lined single to the next, etc.
In the Boston second, a one-out double was followed by Jarren Duran's Bradenton-brand home run the other way to left, aided in large part by a strong wind that way. Reynolds actually broke in on the ball when it was struck, and even Duran seemed surprised to be trotting around the bases.
Keller made it through his interview session with a straight face crediting Duran for "barreling the ball," but everyone involved, Keller included, knew it was airmailed.
Overall, Keller added, his top priority was working with a fastball up in the zone and that it's been a test.
"It's absolutely an adjustment period right now," Keller said. "I'm trying to get the feel of it, just getting comfortable with it. Because it's a drastic change. Before coming up, fastball top-of-zone was a no-no. But the game's changed a little bit, and they're trying to utilize what's best for me."
• If that sounds familiar, that's because Joe Musgrove was trying to do likewise the previous afternoon. This is one of new pitching coach Oscar Marin's plans for both pitchers, based on their curve action and having hitters be less likely to distinguish between the curve and the high heat until it's too late.
• Been a lot of buzz down here about Blake Cederlind, some of it because of his long blond mane, some because he throws really hard. But no one's impressed me more among the peripheral bullpen candidates than Nick Burdi.
Still battling back from that nerve injury that shut him down early last season -- most will recall the grizzly scene at PNC Park the night he collapsed and became emotional on the mound -- he routinely popped 100 on the gun in a clean fourth inning on this day. It looked effortless, too. Minimal violence to the delivery.
Behold ...
Nick Burdi, seamless follow-thru into a K strut. ??
Pirates must be emphasizing K strut work in Spring Training. pic.twitter.com/4JrkCCF0zO
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 26, 2020
Complete with Cederlind-level strut, no less.
"It's super-encouraging," Burdi told me. "To go out there and see the results and have the arm not bother me after throwing like that ... yeah, this is how I'm used to throwing. This is how I'd thrown for years."
That said, caution's very much in play. Shelton acknowledged being both awestruck -- "If he gets any healthier," the manager joked, "it's gonna be a little scary" -- and careful. He and athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk plan to check him more often, including Friday morning, than most pitchers to monitor for any discomfort. "Just to make sure he feels right," Shelton added.
It's difficult to discern, then, how serious a candidate Burdi might be to open the season with the Pirates.
• More sound fundamentals, with a plus or two: Cole Tucker made a superlative diving, rolling catch in shallow left, and Jose Osuna, getting a rare start at third base, twice elegantly picked short hops.
"I'm proud of my defense," Osuna told me.
Tucker praised Osuna, too, as did Shelton, adding that he's been taken aback by Osuna's increasingly chiseled 6-2, 235-pound physique.
"He's a really big, thick guy, so you might not think from afar he's athletic as he is," Shelton said. "I've liked what I've seen, and we're glad we gave him that chance over there."
Osuna also cracked an RBI double down the left-field chalk in the third inning, bringing Reynolds all the way around from first:
Ok, José!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/vajCiPez1k
— Pirates (@Pirates) February 26, 2020
• The score was 3-3 when both teams removed all their regulars in the sixth. If you're one of those casual fans who takes spring outcomes seriously, no matter whether it's good or bad ... just don't be. The Pirates being 0-5 is every bit as meaningful as if they'd be 5-0 right now. Which is to say, not at all.
• Closing on a happy note, this was the magnificent scene minutes before the game:
Anthem, Wednesday afternoon, LECOM Park, Bradenton, Fla. - DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPSSeven members of our Pittsburgh Symphony performed the national anthem, while Shelton respectfully had his Pirates stand in line behind Bill Mazeroski for the presentation of colors. After which Maz took Shelton's lineup card to home plate to a roaring ovation from both teams' fans.
All the goosebumps. Baseball is good.
I asked Shelton about the moment.
"I was just basically thanking him for coming out," he explained, referring to Maz. "I mean anytime you, you get, you know, the guy who hit probably the greatest homer in World Series history to take a lineup card out ... I actually apologize to Chad Fairchild because I try to talk to the crew chiefs the first time around, and he was like, 'No, I'm good.'"
Big, booming laughter.
"It was really cool. Anytime we can have Maz around, it's great."
