When the Seattle Mariners brought back Jorge Polanco for this season, there were plenty of fans who believed this encapsulated the organization's unambitious/risk-free approach to the offseason. After all, this was a player coming off a 2024 campaign when he set career-worsts in a host of categories, including a .213 batting average, .296 OBP, .651 OPS and 29.2 strikeout rate.
Then the unexpected happened, as Polanco got off to a hot start which saw him leading all hitters with a ridiculous .819 slugging percentage, 1.254 OPS and a 258 wRC+ as we came to the end of April.