Gregory Polanco fires back at Pirates fans: 'I'm a human being, too'

Gregory Polanco sounded off on Pittsburgh Pirates fans who have heckled him at PNC Park this week, showing their sharp criticism has clearly stung the pride of the right fielder who is the team’s longest-tenured player.

A day after Polanco made a costly error in a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks and fans chanted “D-F-A” at him, he was asked about how he has handled fan backlash when he returned to the lineup after clearing waivers earlier this week. Polanco didn’t hold back — his answer lasted 2 minutes, 45 seconds — before walking off the field.

“It’s tough. It’s tough. It’s not nice. It’s not nice. They have to understand that I’m a human being, too,” Polanco said after batting practice Thursday afternoon before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. “This is my work. This is my job. I don’t want to do bad. I eat because of baseball. That’s how I get paid, so I want to do great every time. That’s not nice to hear that, the fans like, ‘Oh, release him. DFA him. Send him back.’

“But they don’t understand. They don’t know how hard it is. I’m doing 100% every day to get better. It’s been a hard year for me, obviously. This is my free-agent year. I want to do good. I want to keep playing baseball until I can’t. I don’t want to retire. I don’t want to be home. I want to be on a baseball field. This is what I love. They don’t understand, and that’s sad.”

Polanco, who turns 30 on Sept. 14, signed with the Pirates out of the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old in April 2009 and made his major-league debut in June 2014.

He is the lone holdover from their teams that made three consecutive postseason appearances from 2013-15, and he signed a five-year, $35 million contract in April 2016.

Polanco has long been a lightning rod for criticism by Pirates fans. He had 23 home runs and 81 RBIs when he injured his left knee and (throwing) shoulder in an awkward slide in September 2018 and has been a shell of the former top-10 prospect who was once billed as the Next Big Thing by Sports Illustrated.

Polanco batted .153 with a .539 OPS in 50 games last year, and his struggles this season. He is batting .203/.279/.345 with 10 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 34 RBIs, numbers that have compounded the complaints as the Pirates have the fourth-worst record in baseball.

“People are going to have their opinions. Fans are going to have their opinions. I appreciate that, and I appreciate their passion,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Thursday afternoon. “Like I’ve told you guys numerous times, the issue I would have with Gregory or any player on our team would be effort. I would be hard-pressed for anybody on this Zoom (video conference call) or anybody who’s watched us play to say that he has not had extremely good effort all year long.”

Shelton was asked to elaborate on how the Pirates have reacted in the home dugout or clubhouse to hearing taunts directed at Polanco, which became more audible as crowds dwindled to an announced average of 8,477 for the three-game series against the Diamondbacks.

“I think our reaction is we play the game,” Shelton said. “Like I said before, people are going to be passionate. People have their opinions and appreciate their opinions. If you’re in this game long enough, you’re gonna get yelled things at. You can go through good times and bad times. We try to focus on playing the game.”

It reached a breaking point when the Pirates placed him on waivers Sunday in an attempt to get another team to pick up the remainder of his contract, which has club options for two more years with a $3 million buyout in 2022 and $1 million buyout in ’23. Polanco said Pirates general manager Ben Cherington informed him of the move after the weekend series in St. Louis when the team plane landed.

Sports talk-show hosts have wondered aloud for weeks why Polanco is still regularly in the starting lineup, even after clearing waivers.

Shelton put that move squarely on himself.

“It’s my decision,” Shelton said, noting Polanco also had two hits against Arizona. “It’s my decision to put him in the lineup against (Cardinals pitcher Miles) Mikolas, a lefty. I know (Wednesday) night he made an error, but he’s played well defensively. I think that would be the easiest answer for you guys.”

In Polanco’s response, he voiced his frustration with fans taking theirs out on him. Polanco repeatedly shared his love for the game and even volunteered that he is working hard to correct the flaws in his swing — he leads the team in strikeouts, with 101 — by taking 300 swings in the batting cage every day.

“You don’t ever hear nothing wrong about me outside the baseball field,” Polanco said. “I like to play baseball. And I love the fans. You ask around the city, how I am, how I treat people, and they’re going to say 100% I’m a nice person. You’ve known me for a long time. That’s hard to hear that from the fans who are supposed to support us. Even though we’re not playing great, it’s not nice.

“But I try to keep that out of my mind even though it’s hard not to when you’re playing. There’s only 5,000 people here, so you hear everything. There’s not much I can say about that. I just want to play and give my best. Nobody wants to make errors. Nobody wants to strike out. If you’re a hitter, you want to hit. If you’re a hitter, you want to bring a run in, you want to get on base. I don’t know why they’re doing that to me. I know I’m not playing great, but I’m trying. I’m trying.”