Pirates Prospect: Gregory Polanco

Polanco has been rising through prospect ranks this year, reaching number 15 on my list, and this has been due to a great breakout year.  Here is my write-up for Polanco on my top 30 prospects list:

15.) Gregory Polanco (NA)--OF--20
Polanco is having a breakout year in low-A West Virginia after struggling in his first few years in the organization.  It was a bit of a surprise to see him start the year in low-A after a bad year in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, but he has surpassed expectations with a .302/.360/.482 line, with nine homers and a .841 OPS in 222 at bats.  Coming into the year he was seen as a “potential five-tool talent”, and has lived up to that with his average and power, along with 16 SB’s in 20 attempts, while serving as the primary center fielder for the West Virginia Power.  Starling Marte (#4 on this list) had his breakout year for West Virginia as a 20 year old as well, and so far Gregory Polanco is putting up better offensive numbers than Marte did that year.  He doesn’t have the arm or fielding ability of Marte and isn’t quite as fast, but is a very efficient base runner who can hit for average and power.

Now, after 272 at bats, Polanco has a line of .298/.357/.482 for an OPS of .839, along with 11 home runs and 22 stolen bases.  This is a huge contrast from the rest of his career as a minor league, where his highest OPS in a season was .727 and came when he was 17 and playing in the Dominican Summer League.  Although his performance is much better than what it has been in the past, it can't really be considered a surprise.  Polanco was still a very good prospect coming into the season and was just considered raw, and the Pirates obviously had a lot of faith in his ability because they skipped him over the short season level. 
Along with hitting for a good average and good power, Polanco has a relatively good strikeout rate, currently at 18.0%.  He also has a good 8.4% walk rate to go with that strikeout rate.  Polanco's fielding has been good this year as well, with a range factor per game of 2.48 in centerfield, with the major league average at that position being 2.43 at that position. 
As I said above in my top prospect write-up for him, Polanco is having his breakout season at the same age and point in his career as top hitting prospect Starling Marte did.  Marte and Polanco are similar prospects because they were both viewed as potential five-tool prospects when they were brought into the system.  In 221 at bats in low-A as a 20 year old, Marte had a line of .312/.377/.439, with an OPS of .815, three homers, and 24 stolen bases.  Marte hit for a better average and got on base more, but Polanco has hit for more power than Marte did.  Marte was injured for long amounts of time in the lower levels of the minors, so if Polanco stays healthy he may be able to move a little faster through the system compared to Marte. 
Currently, Polanco is listed as a 6'4" and 170 lbs lefty hitter.  This means that he has a lot of room to add muscle, and this could lead to even more power in the future.  If he continues to hit for a good average and can add more to his already above average power, Polanco could be a very good prospect moving forward, and possibly a top 100 prospect in the future.  An outfielder who can hit for good average and good power, along with good fielding and good baserunning, is very valuable to an organization.  Polanco will probably remain in West Virginia for the rest of the season, but it wouldn't be out of the question to see him promoted to high-A Bradenton before the end of the season.

Any questions or comments can be sent to me on twitter @mikemaw45.  If you would like to see a certain prospect profiled, then you can tweet that to me as well.