Gregory Polanco homers, drops fly ball as Pirates win Grapefruit League opener

It was an eight-inning game that had the first half-inning called after only two outs were recorded. And, yet, the aspect of Sunday’s Grapefruit League opener for the Pittsburgh Pirates that perhaps stood out most was there were 1,750 spectators on hand to see it.

It had been 353 days since the Pirates played any game — meaningful or not — in front of paying fans.

“It was good to hear some noise, some fans screaming at the umpires,” new Pirates infielder Todd Frazier said of the atmosphere at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. “It was kind of the norm, and, hopefully, we can kept that.”

Possibly the next-closest thing representing a return to normalcy during a 6-5 victory against the Baltimore Orioles was the mercurial performance of Gregory Polanco. The Pirates’ highest-paid — and most enigmatic — player had a spring debut that mirrors much of his eight-year tenure with the club.

Polanco hit a two-run, opposite-field homer in the top of the third inning. In the bottom half of the frame, he dropped a fly ball that led to Baltimore’s first run.

Polanco blamed the Florida Gulf Coast breeze for his drop — “It just hit me in my palm,” he said. Of greater significance to the Pirates was his much-needed bat showed pop even after a wrist injury suffered while playing winter ball.

“Where I’m at right now and healthy, that says a lot,” Polanco said. “Me, personally, I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s good. That’s a good start for the spring training,’ obviously. So (on the home run) I was just, ‘OK, that’s a good swing.’ ”

Enjoy this, courtesy of @El_Coffee. pic.twitter.com/arURc5mXuv

— Pirates (@Pirates) February 28, 2021

The last man standing from the Pirates’ most recent playoff team in 2015, Polanco’s star-crossed tenure has been limited by injury to 92 games since September 2018. But his popularity as a teammate was exhibited by an enthusiastically warm reception he received at the dugout after rounding the bases.

“They were so happy,” Polanco said. “They were so loud, too. They were loud. I have their support for sure, and that’s amazing to see that.”

Frazier, one of the few position players in camp older than Polanco, also homered for the Pirates in his debut with the team after being signed nine days prior. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes had the only other Pirates extra-base hit, a well-struck double to center that drove in Kevin Newman.

Young Hayes doing Young Hayes type things. pic.twitter.com/BZnSDZgP1X

— Pirates (@Pirates) February 28, 2021

While manager Derek Shelton emphasized not reading too much into the starting lineup, the Pirates who played Sunday looked a lot like the group that figures to face the Chicago Cubs on April 1 in the first game of the regular season.

Newman batted leadoff and played shortstop, reaching base in all three plate appearances. Hayes hit second, left fielder Bryan Reynolds third with Colin Moran in the cleanup spot followed by right fielder Polanco and Frazier as the designated hitter.

With Adam Frazier (groin) out, Erik Gonzalez started at second base but switched spots with Newman after three innings to give Shelton a look at two of the three candidates (along with Cole Tucker) to be the Opening Day shortstop.

The only projected backups to start the first Grapefruit League game were recent signee Tony Wolters at catcher and Jared Oliva in center field.

Chad Kuhl, the Pirates’ longest-tenured pitcher, started and struck out the side in succession after allowing a pair of singles to open up his only inning. Kuhl said he used his slider as his strikeout pitch but the two-seam fastball was what his area of focus was going into the outing.

“Had a really good pregame ‘pen,” Kuhl said. “Was energized by the fans here. Overall pretty good.”

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