What if Jorge Polanco played *first* base

A one week in proposal to reward a healthy Polo with a possibly-preferable assignment.

One week into the season, the Seattle Mariners look familiar. The (intended) rotation has mostly been stalwart, the bullpen has been sturdy at the end but gooey in the middle, and the offense has flashed improvements on a year ago but remains hidebound due to factors malleable (a .211 BABIP that’s 26th in MLB) and inherent (these are the players!). What’s not been stagnant, however, is the defense, which came into 2025 as a massive question mark.

Despite his frigid everything-post-April last year, Josh Rojas brought elite defensive performance to the hot corner in 2024. Seattle retains two of the 2024 Gold Glove winners in Cal Raleigh behind the dish and Dylan Moore as the Utility winner, but D-Mo is generally a strong 2B and OF, a reasonable 3B/1B, and an overstretched SS. Moore’s range and hands are both strengths, as is his arm accuracy, but the quick-handed 32 year old is simply not operating a Howitzer.

The latter applies to Jorge Polanco as well. Looking cautiously rejuvenated at the plate, Polo should return from paternity leave this weekend following the birth of his fourth child. The offseason knee surgery he had is obviously playing a role both physically and mentally in Polanco’s comfort. While that may be a boon for the lineup, even in his youth Polanco was not a glimmering defender, and he’s unfortunately looked rusty at best in his efforts to recapture third base. I do expect some improvement as the year goes on and Polanco gets more reps, but given the switch-hitter’s health history I worry the inverse could be true.

The shortcomings of Polo’s arm have been evident in the season’s first week. Some moments have been more extreme, like this deep chopper which was a high degree of difficulty opportunity.

If you’re catching the ball here, I’m not going to expect an out, though it is the type of play elite 3Bs can make.

Root Sports

On another play that stood out, Polo’s arm strength again betrayed solid reactions and hands.

The intentional skip throw better calibrates a throw for predictable hops and to remain on line when fielding the ball takes you off-balance. The broadcast noted it’s intentionally coached by M’s infield guru Perry Hill. Moore, Rojas, former Gold Glove winner J.P. Crawford, and others under Hill’s tutelage have utilized this in recent years to quality results. But again… Polanco so underthrows it that he generates a two-hopper. The intent of the skip throw is to generate a “long hop” wherein the ball bounces well in advance of the first baseman and is therefore easily tracked to be picked out of the air. Instead, Moore at first ends up with a short hop after all, and he cannot pick it.

I’m not going to bother with the JJ Bleday dead duck that Polo came across the infield to field but muffed, as I actually think he played that correctly and just didn’t come up with what would’ve been a bang-bang play for anyone, but there is another close play that highlights where the defensive difference is hurting Seattle subtly.

This should be an out six ways to Sunday. It’s a 1-2 pitch that Snider locates perfectly, comfortably above the zone where the catcher’s target is. Brent Rooker, who Seattle stifled all weekend before he erupted against the Chicago Cubs this week, musters a dribbled bit of contact. Polo is playing deep, understandably given Rooker’s power and tendencies, but gets a good break on it, moves fluidly to the ball, doesn’t bobble or double-clutch, and throws essentially on target to Moore, who musters the pick this time on a stretch that, if I’m nit-picking, gained almost no ground and demanded the pick where it might not have been necessary. Rooker’s no Glacial Gus, he’s been around a league-average runner for years, but this is quintessential “game of inches” stuff. Polanco did everything right and it was not enough.

There’s not an ideal solution yet, because as much as I would love to see this every day at the hot corner…

… and this…

It’s exceedingly difficult to ask a player of Williamson’s light-slugging caliber, with 20 Triple-A plate appearances, to step into the big leagues and expect anything at all. Perhaps that will be a midseason option, but in the shorter term, there may be a better fix.

Moore’s offensive prowess is augmented by platoon work, but he’s doggedly improved into a palatable hitter against righties, with a 92 wRC+ for his career against them that’s propped up against his 120 wRC+ against lefties. In Wednesday’s game, D-Mo made multiple both technically and tactically sharp plays that reflect his typical infield capacity: sound, if unspectacular. For Perry Hill’s cardiac health, and the emotional wellbeing of the M’s pitching staff, Moore at third improves the quality of the defense meaningfully, particularly with Ryan Bliss looking improved defensively at second.

I can ignore no further the albatross on the bow of this ship-shaped proposition: Jorge Polanco has never played an inning of first base as a professional. I am a firm believer that while Wash is correct about many things, no, it is not that hard, at least if you’ve spent over a decade playing 2B, SS, and 3B in the major leagues. Polanco’s greatest weaknesses as a defender are his range and his arm strength, guess where those traits are suddenly vastly less important!

This would’ve been absurd to suggest at the end of last year. It’s only mildly less so now. But chilling his heels at the cold corner would mean Polanco’s expectations were predicated on much more offensive production, which seemed unlikely given his health issues and poor performance in 2024. One week hasn’t convinced me of Polanco’s total rejuvenation, but he absolutely has looked and moved more comfortably in spring and thus far this year. Easing Polo into 1B reps in practice and eventually play allows Seattle to consider other options this summer that don’t include hundreds of plate appearances for Rowdy Tellez, whose track record does not match that of Luke Raley or even Donovan Solano. If the goal of moving him to third instead of second was to keep Polo healthier, then going to first would assuredly be even more effective towards that end in reducing his high-strain plays.

It feels mildly like shuffling the Spelling Bee letters, or moving around your dominoes in hopes that they’ll look better in refreshed calibration. After all, this concept still demands Ryan Bliss find his hitting stroke, or that another middle infielder arise swiftly. Polo could still mix in at third, particularly to ensure Raley gets his 1B reps as well, but much as the M’s clearly don’t see 37 year old Solano as a viable first choice anywhere but first, so too would they benefit from preparing Polanco.

I don’t expect this to happen, certainly not before June. However, it does feel viable to me as a methodology for mitigating some of Seattle’s greatest defensive struggles and potentially turning them into a strength. Depending on both Bliss and Polo to hit isn’t wishful thinking – they both have been good hitters for their whole careers and project to be solid this year. But it’s not what we’ve seen from them consistently yet, so I’m sympathetic to a dismissal of the idea offhand. Still, I don’t want to watch a full year of would-be outs slipping by, particularly for a pitching staff that is going to remain firm on pitching in the strike zone. What if we gave it a shot?