Polanco, Placido

With a guy like Polanco, you probably know as well as we what to expect. 8-10 home runs, 55-75 RBI, 85-95 Rs. More R's and less RBI if batting #2 and vice versa if the Phils bat him lower. He's gotten exactly seven stolen bases each of the past three seasons, so all that is left is to "choose" his batting average.

Although we often complain about players ground ball rates going up (not that high ground ball rates can't work, see: Suzuki, Ichiro), it appeared that Polanco (three of whose four previous sub .300 full seasons previously had also been his highest ground ball rates) was trying to lift the ball. He posted his lowest groundball rate for which we have records and his highest home run total since 2004. It would be tempting to write a narrative on this wherein Polanco was "struggling to help the team" by hitting for more power and his batting average paid the price. Except, as often happens, the facts tend to dispel what would otherwise be a very nice story. Looking at the splits, Polanco's graund ball rate averaged about 47% through June and just over 40% after. But he batted .257 to start, and .306 with the lower grund ball rate....oh and his home run rate was higher with the higher ground ball rate (although not significantly). So for Polanco, again, ground balls tend to be a symptom of his doing less well.

Frankly, Polanco was great in the second half and he moves back to a place where he is very comfortable. We don't expect him to drop a beat moving over to third base. He's certainly not a plus offensive third baseman, but the extra eligibility helps and suggests an inexpensive way to cover a Chipper Jones for instance. .305-95-9-70-7SSB. 600ABs