Gregory Polanco isn't having a good season...I know, breaking news. This year has been especially bad, but Gregory apparently doesn't want fans to tell him about it.
Polanco talked before Thursday's game and addressed his poor play and fans at Wednesday night's game chanting "DFA" at him.
While he turned those jeers into cheers on Thursday going 3-for-5 including a 2 run go-ahead double in the seventh raising his average to .209, he’s still struggling overall.
Polanco also discussed his effort and good behavior off the field, comments I don't suspect will sit well with fans while he is having, statistically, one of the worst seasons in all of the majors.
Gregory Polanco is the highest paid player on the Pirates and also one of the worst. That is a situation that will never sit well with fans. If fans want to spend their money to go to a game and express their displeasure with him, then I have no problem with that. That's part of the gig for any professional athlete.
This quote from Polanco especially bothers me.
"That's hard to hear that, from fans who are supposed to support us. Even though we're not playing great, it's not nice."
Allow me to offer a counter argument to that. Fans expect the top paid player on their team to produce, and Gregory has not done that. It would be one thing if he was hitting even just .250, or hitting for power, or regularly producing in any aspect of the game, but he hasn't done that this year, or last year, or the year before that.
Also, fans spend their money to go to games, and as long as they're not swearing or doing anything that warrants being thrown out of the stadium, then they are free to express their displeasure with the player. Like it or now, that's part of the gig.
Polanco added that, "This is my job. I don't want to do bad. I eat because of this. Baseball is how I get paid."
Well, maybe not for long.
Perhaps the most telling comment by Polanco will also be the comment that fans like the most. Polanco called this his "free agent year" despite having a team option for next year, which means he is fully expecting the team to buy him out (for $3 million) and send him on his way.
At this point, that's something that needs to happen for the team, for Gregory and for the fans.