Gregory Polanco never lived up to his top prospect billing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The five-tool outfielder battled injuries and MLB pitching before being released by the Pirates in 2021.
But for fans wondering, “Whatever happened to Gregory Polanco?”, wonder no more. Polanco turned up all over Twitter Wednesday after collecting his second three-homer game of the season in Japan’s Pacific League.
The Chiba Lotte Marines star now has more three home run games than the rest of the league combined.
Gregory Polanco crushes his THIRD home run of the game!
Polanco now has 2 hat tricks this season. The rest of the league has 1 combined.
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) August 23, 2023
Polanco now has 19 home runs and a .782 OPS in 316 at-bats.
The 31-year-old Polanco played eight seasons for the Pirates, hitting 96 home runs with a .718 OPS. In 2018, his best season, he hit 23 home runs with a .839 OPS.
But Polanco was never the same after dislocating his shoulder late that season. Still, despite his MLB struggles after that, the personable Polanco remained one of the most popular Pirates in the clubhouse and with fans.
Baseball fans were happy to see Polanco finding a second baseball life overseas, and who knows — maybe an MLB team will give him another chance.
Gregory Polanco still doing great things in Japan. pic.twitter.com/HR5ZAnpsTG
— Locked On Pirates (@LockedOnPirates) August 23, 2023
Gregory Polanco WOWW! pic.twitter.com/FdVCsdscAK
— Prospect Dugout (@prospectdugout) August 23, 2023
Pirates fans used to absolutely rave about this guy as a person. More so than any other “random” player I can recall. Good for him doing well in Japan.
— Daniel Wexler (@WexlerRules) August 24, 2023
I truly believe if Polanco came up in a different organization, one that knows how to develop its prospects and make them better, he would still be in the majors today and considered a really good player. Remember how he was touted? 5 tool kid. Pirates did nothing to help him.
— Mikey Aces (@Mikey5Aces) August 24, 2023
Man, I love Gregory Polanco!
— Steve – @lovelovemarines@famichiki.jp (@lovelovemarines) August 23, 2023
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.