Welcome back, Jorge Polanco
The longest three months of Jorge Polanco’s career are over. His 80-game PED suspension has been served, and he returned to the Twins lineup Monday, going 0-for-4.
Polanco wasn’t a seismic needle-mover in 2017, but he was useful. He hit 13 homers and stole 13 bases; the first number wasn’t a big deal last year, but the combination makes for interesting category juice. Reasonable stats over 133 games. Sticking with that 13 number, Polanco is owned in just 13 percent of Yahoo leagues.
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I can understand why Polanco wasn’t held by the majority of fantasy owners — in many formats, bench space is precious. Polanco is a useful player but not a star; you probably had pressing, more immediate needs. But it’s time to jump back into the fray. Polanco slotted fifth in Monday’s lineup, and he’s hitting second Tuesday afternoon.
Minnesota’s lineup could be a little tricky going forward. Ehire Adrianza has been a league-average hitter as the replacement shortstop, but he’s likely off the grid now. Miguel Sano is still in the minors, which allows the grossly-underrated Eduardo Escobar to handle third base, without controversy. Escobar also qualifies at second and shortstop. Eventually, manager Paul Molitor will have some difficult choices.
That’s tomorrow’s problem. For now, you should at least consider Polanco. He can help some of you.
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