Scorching hot Jorge Polanco is redeeming Mariners front office one swing at a time

The No. 1 need for the Seattle Mariners during this past offseason was a quality bat upgrade or two for the infield. However, despite the likes of Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso being available, the front office instead signed Donovan Solano and brought back Jorge Polanco at a reduced price.

The Polanco deal in particular provoked the ire of Mariners fans, with the dual ignominy of the organization not being prepared to spend much money to improve the infield, combined with bringing back someone who was truly awful last season. The 2019 All-Star endured the worst year of his time in the majors, including career lows of a .213 batting average, .296 OBP, and .651 OPS.

The Mariners claimed a big part of the reason for Polanco's struggles were due to ongoing knee issues, but he had since undergone surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee. Scepticism remained, though, with him now a year older and still having to deal with the pitcher-friendly confines of T-Mobile Park.

Mariners got it right with Jorge Polanco

Well, for all the criticism that Jerry Dipoto and the front office received for re-signing the former Minnesota Twin, so far they've been proven right, to an extent that even they wouldn't have expected. As of right now, Polanco is on course for one of the best seasons of his major league career, with a .377/.405/.739 slash line, 1.145 OPS, and 238 OPS+.

Polanco has been one of the key drivers behind a rejuvenated lineup which is fifth in the majors in OPS and seventh in runs ahead of Monday's slate of MLB action. Yes, the likes of Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena have more than done their part, but you have to wonder where the Mariners would be offensively without the Dominican Republic native.

Polanco's teammates are, unsurprisingly, impressed with what they're seeing, including Julio Rodríguez, who is conversely off to a slow start this season. As per Shane Lantz of The Seattle Times, Rodríguez said: "I was telling him that he’s not hot, he’s the fire. It’s so much fun to watch. Every time he’s at the plate, everybody’s watching. Everybody’s like expecting something to happen, because he’s just that kind of player."

Jorge Polanco just keeps getting better

You only have to look at Polanco's Baseball Savant page for even more indication of just how special he's been so far in 2025, with him in the 98th percentile for Batting Run Value. Other notable highlights include similarly being in the 90th percentile for xwOBA and xSLG, as well as the 100th percentile for xBA.

The 31-year-old had his best series of the season this past weekend against the Miami Marlins. In three games, he had six hits in 12 at-bats, which resulted in three homers, seven RBI and four runs, to help his OPS jump back over 1.000.

This recent success contributed towards Polanco being named AL Player of the Week for April 21-27 on Monday, which doubled as the first weekly award of his major league career. He appeared in five games — starting four of them — recording 22 total bases and a 1.844 OPS.

A change of position for the Mariners, but not as envisioned

On the subject of Polanco's playing time, some would describe this as being a little wonky, with him so far only appearing in 20 of the Mariners' first 28 games of the season. However, this is in part because of sometimes resting him due to knee soreness. (He was also given paternity leave at the beginning of April as his wife was having a baby.)

The left knee is mostly holding up for the switch-hitter, although the experiment to move him to third base has seemingly been all but abandoned, helped significantly by the sublime play of Ben Williamson at the position. However, Polanco has also only appeared once at his previous position of second base and has mostly been used as a DH.

Some critics might not like this, but it makes a lot of sense if it means helping Polanco's knee hold up, combined with the Mariners finally upgrading their DH position. Overall, there's a lot more to like than dislike from him so far in 2025. And whether Dipoto's critics like it or not, they have to hand it to him and the rest of the front office on this one.

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