PITTSBURGH — Gregory Polanco doesn't hold it against the Pirates for releasing him. Given his lack of production and where the Pirates are at from a competitive standpoint, he pretty much expected the Aug. 28 transaction.
But true to his personality — always upbeat, always smiling — Polanco would rather focus on the experience gained and what Pittsburgh taught him as opposed to a strange and emotionally charged end to his Pirates tenure.
"There are a lot of great memories for me in Pittsburgh," Polanco told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday afternoon. "I love that city, man. It's always going to have a place in my heart. It changed my life and my family's life. I'm really, really grateful for the Pirates organization and the city of Pittsburgh. I got much respect for them."
Polanco, as you know, is in a difference place right now, both literally and figuratively. Physically, he's in Scranton, where he'll start Friday for Class AAA Buffalo against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
After signing a minor league deal with Toronto on Aug. 31, Polanco was assigned to the Bisons and was on the roster for Thursday's game, although he did not play. The weirdest part of the whole thing might be the fact that the RailRiders play their games at PNC Field.
"I think I have an opportunity to get back in the big leagues here," Polanco said. "The GM [Ross Atkins] personally called me and talked to me. I like it here."
Since he joined the organization by Aug. 31, Polanco can technically still be playoff eligible as an injury replacement to someone on the 10- or 60-day injured lists. They'd have to miss the requisite amount of time, and the Blue Jays would have to petition the commissioner's office, which would likely result in Polanco being added.
The right fielder, of course, isn't terribly concerned about that. Polanco said he's simply worried about adjusting his swing, making more consistent contact and showing he's still capable of playing in the major leagues.
"That's my main goal, to get back to the big leagues," Polanco said. "Obviously I have to work for it. I'm working hard right now."
In red, blue and white, no less, which Polanco said absolutely took some getting used to.
"But that's where I'm at right now," he said. "I'm here to play."
The Pirates' move to ultimately release Polanco did not surprise him. After they placed him on outright waivers less than a week before, he figured this was probably the next course of action. Especially given his contract option for 2022, the team's competition situation and Pittsburgh wanting to prioritize playing time for younger players.
At the same time, Polanco didn't fret over it. Same as he's done this season, Polanco tried his best to focus on each day by itself, never thinking about what the future may hold or stuff that might happen that's out of his control.
"I like to be where I'm at," Polanco said. "Live in the moment."
That strategy has likely been perfected over Polanco's time in Pittsburgh, a tenure that started with so much promise but ended in a way that pretty much nobody wanted. Polanco hit .203 with a .634 OPS in 199 games over his final three seasons and struck out in 30.2% of his at-bats.
Polanco was a markedly different player than he was previously in his career, with nothing more obvious than Polanco making throws from right field. That has bothered Polanco, with his inability to throw the way he used to, and it ties back to the 2018 injuries Polanco incurred.
Hurting his knee and shoulder in early September that year forever changed Polanco's career, something he himself admitted during a phone conversation Friday.
"Yeah, obviously that affected my career, for sure, the last couple years after that injury," Polanco said. "But I still have ability. I still can run. I still can play. I probably don't have the same arm strength now, but I'm making progress. I'm close to where I was with my swing. I'm gonna work through it. I'm feeling better every day."
It's easy to see both sides of this. Polanco hit just .208 in 336 at-bats this season. He did cut down on his strikeouts, hit 11 home runs and stole 14 bases. But his OPS was just .637, and he never rediscovered anything close to his previous form.
Polanco has a chance to do that now in the minors. As anyone who has watched him would attest, he certainly doesn't lack for ability. But putting that all together has been a challenge, one that defined Polanco's days as a Pirate.
That might frustrate some players, but for Polanco, he chooses to take the positives out of it and press forward.
"It's all experience, man," Polanco said. "Everybody has different situations. Everybody goes through stuff in life. That's what God had planned for me. I don't regret anything that happened. I'm just grateful and thankful to be back playing the game.
"I look at it this way. That [Sept. 7, 2018 game against the Marlins] game could have been my last. I overcame all that, and I'm still playing baseball. I know I'm not hitting the same and whatever. But I'm back playing. I'm just grateful that I'm here."
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