6 years agoMinnesota Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco enters 2019 as the presumptive starter at the position. The 25-year-old spent the first 80 games on the shelf in 2018 thanks to getting caught with a banned substance in his blood during the offseason. Polanco entered that campaign as a popular late-round shortstop sleeper after he slashed .293/.359/.511 with 10 home runs, seven steals, 43 runs batted, and a .218 ISO in during the second half of 2017. In fact, his 129 wRC+ was good for second among shortstops, only behind Francisco Lindor’s 140. Polanco made his presence felt down the stretch in 2018, particularly between September and October. Over the final 27 games of the season, the native Dominican slashed .310/.361/.460 with three homers and three steals, adding tremendous value off of the bench or as an injury replacement. Overall, a .288/.345/.427 with six homers and seven steals isn’t much to write home about, but that late-season stretch showed that the shortstop has plenty of juice. Entering his sixth year, Polanco has a tantalizing mix of power and speed with above-average plate awareness and contact skills. He’s also smart and has shown an ability to adjust, leading to improvements in swing percentages, hard contact, and the spread of contact. He’s grown each season as a hitter, and you could squint and see how further improvements could lead to a 20/20 season. But if you pay for the projections, there’s still plenty of room for value. Due to the lost time and last season’s pedestrian counting stats, Polanco is expected to be somewhere between the 24th and 28th shortstop off the board and between 220 and 250 overall. However, his statistical projections like him to be closer to the 14th or 15th shortstop, and around the 165th best hitter. But if you think Polanco improves at all over his 14/14 .272/.332/.419 projection, draft him in the top-12 shortstop territory.--Sean Scampton