Jorge Polanco’s journey through Major League Baseball has been anything but linear-but it’s also been quietly impressive. From his early days as a teenage signee out of the Dominican Republic to a late-career resurgence in Seattle, Polanco has carved out a career defined by resilience, versatility, and a bat that still has some pop left in it.
Polanco first signed with the Twins as an international free agent back in 2009, and it took a few years before he’d get his first real taste of the big leagues. After a brief cameo in 2014 and limited action in 2015, he finally got a more extended look in 2016.
That year, after starting in Triple-A, he earned two call-ups to Minnesota and stuck the second time around. He made 270 plate appearances while holding down the shortstop position and posted a solid .282/.332/.424 line with a 101 wRC+-a promising sign for a young infielder still finding his footing.
By 2017, Polanco had earned the starting shortstop job out of camp. He played in 133 games and logged 544 plate appearances, though his production dipped a bit, finishing with a 90 wRC+ and being worth 1.9 fWAR. It wasn’t a breakout, but it was clear the Twins saw something in him.
Then came a major setback. In spring training of 2018, Polanco was hit with an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance.
That put his season on hold until July. But when he returned, he looked like a more confident hitter.
In just 333 plate appearances, he slashed .288/.345/.427 with a 111 wRC+, showing signs that he was turning a corner offensively.
Over the next five seasons with Minnesota, Polanco became a steady presence in the lineup. He hit .267/.333/.458 with a 116 wRC+ and launched 89 home runs during that stretch.
His best year came in 2021, when he mashed 33 homers, posted a 124 wRC+, and was worth a career-best 4.0 fWAR. That performance came just two years after his first and only All-Star selection in 2019, when he entered the break with an .882 OPS and looked like one of the most complete hitters in the American League.
Defensively, though, things began to shift. The Twins started moving him off shortstop, and by 2021, he had become their primary second baseman, logging 120 games there compared to just 39 at short.
In 2022, that transition became even more pronounced-just six appearances at shortstop, with the rest at second. By 2023, he added a new wrinkle to his defensive résumé with 15 games at third base.
But injuries started to take their toll. Hamstring issues limited him to just 80 games that season, and the Twins decided to move on, trading him to Seattle in the 2023-24 offseason.
His first year with the Mariners didn’t go as planned. Polanco hit just .213/.296/.355 with 16 home runs and a 93 wRC+, contributing just 0.3 fWAR.
He played exclusively at second base (aside from a few DH appearances), but knee issues hampered his mobility and eventually led to surgery after the season. The Mariners declined his $12 million option for 2025, seemingly signaling the end of his time in Seattle.
But baseball has a funny way of offering second chances. Late in the offseason, the Mariners brought him back on a one-year, $7 million deal with a vesting player option for 2026.
And Polanco made the most of it-putting together arguably the best offensive season of his career. He hit .265/.326/.495 with 26 home runs and a 132 wRC+, proving he still had plenty left in the tank.
While he only logged 38 games at second base and five at third (plus a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo at first), he made 88 appearances as the team’s designated hitter-and he thrived in that role.
Defensively, the numbers haven’t been kind to Polanco. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric has consistently placed him near the bottom percentile-wise across every infield position he’s played.
Whether he can adapt to first base in the coming seasons remains a question mark, especially with the Mets reportedly in the mix. But if he keeps swinging the bat like he did in 2025, his defensive limitations might not matter much-especially in a DH-heavy role.
Across his MLB career, Polanco has slashed .263/.330/.442 with a 112 wRC+, and he’s hit 22 or more home runs in three separate seasons: 2019, 2021, and 2024. Since the start of 2021, he owns a 117 wRC+, with only one down year in that span.
There’s some volatility in the bat, sure, but the upside is still there. Among 23 qualified hitters who primarily served as designated hitters in 2025, Polanco ranked eighth-proof that his offensive output stacks up well against his peers.
And while his postseason numbers with the Mariners weren’t eye-popping-he hit .208/.269/.417 with three homers and a double in 52 plate appearances-he did have a signature moment. In Game 2 of the ALDS, he took Tigers ace Tarik Skubal deep twice, powering Seattle to a 3-2 win in a pivotal game of a five-game series that saw them advance. Those are the kind of moments that stick with a team, even if the final stat line doesn’t sparkle.
At 32, Polanco may not be the same player he was in his All-Star days, but he’s evolved into something just as valuable-a veteran bat who can lengthen a lineup, deliver in big moments, and provide flexibility (even if not elite glove work) around the diamond. If he can stay healthy and keep his swing locked in, there’s still a meaningful role for him on a contending roster.