Seattle Mariners' Jorge Polanco Finally Ready to Make Spring Training Debut
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New Seattle Mariners third baseman Jorge Polanco will be in the lineup on Monday as the M's take on the Cleveland Guardians in Cactus League action.
Polanco will be starting at the designated hitter spot, according to Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710. Though he won't be playing third, this is a big day for Polanco, as it marks his first action of the spring.
Polanco underwent surgery on his left patellar tendon at the outset of the offseason. We even raised questions about his opening day availability on Sunday when he wasn't in the lineup once again.
Lineup! Polanco at DH pic.twitter.com/f3meRGYZQ7
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) March 3, 2025
Getting on the field now doesn't all of a sudden take away all of those worries, but it is a big start. Polanco still needs to build up enough at-bats to get game-ready and needs to show that he can play third for long durations of time and that he can do it multiple times per week.
However, if Polanco is unable to play third consistently at the beginning of the season, the M's do have internal options like Donovan Solano, Ryan Bliss, Leo Rivas, and Miles Mastrobuoni.
Now 31, Polanco is an 11-year veteran of the Minnesota Twins and Mariners. A lifetime .263 hitter, he's got 128 home runs and 492 RBI. He hit a career-high 33 homers for Minnesota back in 2021 but hit just 16 for the M's last season as he battled injury and inconsistency.
He hit .213 with a .296 on-base percentage. The M's signed him to a one-year deal worth $7.5 million.
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