The Twins have “been having some internal discussions” about Jorge Polanco’s standing for Opening Day, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey stated, since Polanco has but to play in any Spring Training video games. Left knee soreness introduced a untimely finish to Polanco’s 2022 season, so the Twins opted to convey the second baseman alongside slowly this spring, permitting him to get again to full power in his knee earlier than taking to the sphere.
However, this course of has taken somewhat longer than both Polanco or the Twins would’ve favored. “We’ve had [Polanco’s knee] looked at, to make sure we’re in a good place with him, a couple of times this spring,” Falvey instructed the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Phil Miller and different reporters. “He’s been slowed a little bit, just a little. But we wanted to make absolutely certain there is nothing wrong….There has been no setback.”
That being stated, Falvey added that Polanco is solely “running out of days” to get a crucial quantity of video games underneath his belt earlier than Minnesota opens its season on March 30. While Polanco has taken half in some stay batting-practice periods and are available away with just a few “normal soreness” in his knee, the veteran absolutely requires some in-game reps to get himself absolutely ready for his tenth MLB season.
Polanco had by no means been positioned on the Major League injured listing previous to final June, when he missed simply over the minimal 10 days as a consequence of a foul again. The extra urgent concern arose later within the season when Polanco’s left knee started to trouble him, and August 27 ended up the infielder’s closing sport of the 2022 marketing campaign.
As Falvey famous, there doesn’t seem like something structurally unsuitable with Polanco’s knee, so there isn’t any concern of a extra critical harm. But, the lingering soreness is unquestionably an annoyance to Polanco after a full offseason of relaxation and rehab, and his bothersome knee may now value him extra regular-season time.
While Polanco had been a stranger to the IL, he does have an harm historical past, as he underwent comparatively minor ankle surgical procedures following each the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Polanco performed via ache for a lot of the 2020 season, and his want to remain on the sphere value him production-wise, as he hit solely .258/.304/.354 over 226 plate look through the shortened season. In the final two years, Polanco has regarded much better (.256/.332/.465 in 1089 PA) on the plate, and absolutely he’s hoping to get his knee subject behind him somewhat than danger struggling via one other injury-hampered yr.
If Polanco does need to miss time, the Twins do have a superb quantity of second base depth to cowl the place for no less than a short-term absence. Nick Gordon and new acquisitions Kyle Farmer and Donovan Solano can all play a number of positions, giving Minnesota some versatile choices coming off the bench.
