Jorge Luis Polanco...Twitter: @Jorge_Polanco1...Instagram: @jorge_polanco05...wife Lucero (Ramirez)...sons Jorge Luis (born in 2017) and Justin Luis (born in 2018)...signed out of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic one day after 16th birthday on July 6, 2009...if he wasn't a baseball player, he would be an accountant...hobbies include playing pool, being with family and traveling... participated in 2017-18 Twins Winter Caravan...if he wasn't a baseball player, he would be an accountant or business owner.
2020
Was Twins Opening Day shortstop for third time in career (2017 & 2019), batting third July 24 at Chicago-AL and going 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored...Had walk-off plate appearance August 18 vs. Milwaukee, hitting a slow rolling grounder to first base that was ruled a fielder’s choice and scored Byron Buxton from third base to give the Twins 4-3, 12-inning victory...Hit first career leadoff home run September 1 vs. Detroit (Game 1) off Matthew Boyd...was his fourth homer of the season and first as a right-handed batter...Recorded season-high four hits September 4 vs. Detroit; eighth time in career with four-plus hits...Hit .289 (43-for-149) with a .327 on-base percentage in first 39 games through September 4, but hit .183 (11-for-60) in final 16 games from September 5-27...Committed just two errors on the season, which tied for the third fewest in the league among shortstops with 400.0 innings in the field... .988 fielding percentage as shortstop was third in AL and fourth in MLB...Hit safely in 34 of 55 games played...never went more than three games without at least one hit, and only had one three-game gap from September 15-18...Had two games with at least three hits: 3-for-5 with a run scored on August 6 at Pittsburgh; 4-for-4 with a run and RBI on September 4 vs. Detroit...Led the club with four stolen bases, ranked second with 55 games played and tied for second with 54 hits (also Eddie Rosario)...Had 17 multi-hit games, which tied for 12th most in the American League and tied for sixth in baseball among shortstops...from July 24-August 20, had 11 multi-hit efforts in 26 total games played...Hit .227 (35-for-154) against right-handed pitchers with five doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI and 12 walks...batted .345 (19-for-55) against lefties with three doubles, one homer and seven RBI...previously, his best single-season batting average against left-handed pitchers was .309 (21-for-68) in 2016...among MLB hitters with at least 50 plate appearances against lefties, his .345 batting average ranked third in the AL and fifth in the majors...Among major league players with at least 200 at-bats this season, Polanco’s swing-and-miss percentage (17%) ranked ninth best in baseball...Started at shortstop for both games of the AL Wild Card Series vs. Houston, going 1-for-7 with a walk.
2019
Was Twins Opening Day shortstop for second time in career, first since 2017....Hit for cycle April 5 at Philadelphia, becoming 11th Twin to do so, first since 2009 (Michael Cuddyer)...went 5-for-5 in game, becoming first player in Twins/Senators franchise history with a cycle and five hits....Tied career-high with four RBI April 22 at Houston....Recorded five hits again May 8 at Toronto (triple short of cycle)...one of five players in club history with five hits twice in a season (Joe Mauer - 2010, Denard Span - 2009, Kirby Puckett - 1990, and Tony Oliva - 1965)...one of five shortstops in baseball since 1998 with two five-hit games in a season: Derek Jeter ('11, NYY), Jhonny Peralta ('08, CLE), Nomar Garciaparra ('03, BOS), Gary Disarcina ('98, L...)....Reached safely in 37-straight games May 13-June 25, fifth longest streak in club history....Set career-high with 14-game hitting streak May 27-June 13, hitting .349 (22-for-63) during the streak....Was hitting .341 (85-for-249) on June 11 through 62 games; at the time was leading the AL in hitting....Hit .326 (29-for-89) in 23 April games and .355 (39-for-110) in 27 May games....Was named to AL All-Star team as starting shortstop, the first of career...became the first Twins starter since Joe Mauer was the AL's catcher in 2013; was first Twins shortstop selected to an All-Star Game since Cristian Guzman in 2001 and the first to start since Roy Smalley in 1979...at the break, ranked third in the AL in WAR (4.0), fourth in hits (111), fifth in batting average (.316), tied for seventh in doubles (23) and 11th in OPS (.894)...went 1-for-2 in the game with an infield single, an RBI and a strikeout....Recorded multiple hits in a career-high six straight games August 28-September 2....Hit .309 (34-for-110) with five doubles, one triple, four home runs, 16 RBI, 24 runs scored, 15 walks, a .397 OBP and an .879 OPS in 27 August games....Recorded 100th career double September 14 at Cleveland (Game 2)....Hit 40th double September 22 vs. Kansas City, to become the 18th player and 20th instance in Twins history for a player to reach 40 doubles in a season, first since Trevor Plouffe in 2014....Led the team with 54 multi-hit games, becoming the first Twin with 50-plus such games since Joe Mauer (55) and Denard Span (54) in 2009....Set career highs with 186 hits, 107 runs, 40 doubles, seven triples, 22 home runs, 79 RBI, 60 walks, .295 batting average, .356 on-base percentage, .485 slugging percentage and an .841 OPS....Finished sixth in the AL in hits (186); tied for fifth in doubles (40), triples (7) and multi-hit games (54); ninth in WAR (5.4); 10th in runs scored (107); 13th in total bases (306) and 15th in batting average (.295). ...Played in all three games of ALDS vs. New York-AL, going 3-for-11 with one home run, two RBI, one hit-by-pitch, a stolen base and two walks...hit first homer of series in first inning of Game 1 October 4 at Yankee Stadium, a solo shot to leftfield off James Paxton....Finished 13th in AL MVP voting, accumulating 20 voting points, earning two sixth place votes, one seventh place vote, two ninth place votes and two 10th place votes.
2018
Served 80-game suspension to start the season after violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program...Reinstated from Restricted List on July 2 and played in first game that night at Milwaukee, going 0-for-4...Hit safely in 15 consecutive starts July 10-30, hitting .305 (18-for-59) during that span...Tied career-high with four hits September 16 at Kansas City...Hit .310 (35-for-113) with six doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI, eight walks and a .361 on-base percentage in 27 September games...Hit .317 (63-for-199) as a left-handed batter and .233 (24-for-103) as a right-handed batter...Played 76 of the final 82 Twins games at shortstop...Hit .310 (52-for-168) in Twins wins and .261 (35-for-134) in losses...Twins went 38-35 with Polanco in the lineup and 37-49 without...Signed five-year contract extension February 14 (along with Max Kepler) with a two-year club option.
2017
Made Twins Opening Day roster for first time in career as shortstop, batted seventh April 3 vs. Kansas City ... Set single-game career-high with four hits May 22 at Baltimore...tied with four hits again August 7 vs. Milwaukee ... Placed on bereavement list June 7-12 to attend death of his grandfather ... Hit safely in season-high 10 straight games August 2-12, hitting .459 (17-for-37) with four doubles, one triple, five RBI and a .487 on-base percentage in that span ... Homered from both sides of the plate August 29 vs. Chicago-AL, becoming the fifth player in club history to do so, joining Kennys Vargas (2016), Roy Smalley (1986), Chili Davis (1992) and Ryan Doumit (2012) ... Hit .373 (38-for-102) with 10 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 23 RBI, a .413 on-base percentage and a 1.099 OPS in 27 August games... ranked fifth in baseball in average and tied for eighth in hits ... Hit .316 (65-for-206) with 42 RBI in 55 games from August 2 through the end of the season, eighth-best batting average in the AL in that span and tied for fifth-most RBI ... Batted out of the third place spot for a majority of final two months; hit .259 (30-for-116) with eight home runs and 22 RBI while batting third in lineup ... Hit seven of his 13 home runs against Chicago-AL ... Hit .260 (84-for-323) with nine home runs as left-handed hitter and .248 (41-for-165) with four homers as right-handed hitter ... Played 130 games (127 starts) at shortstop, the ninth-most in the AL; most games at position since Pedro Florimon played 133 in 2013 ... Set single-season career-highs in games (133), runs (60), hits (125), home runs (13), RBI (74), walks (41) and stolen bases (13) ... Finished with 74 RBI, fifth-most in club history for a shortstop; 30 doubles ranked 10th...74 RBI ranked fifth in the AL among shortstops ... Joined Francisco Lindor and Elvis Andrus as one of three shortstops in baseball with 30-plus doubles, 10-plus homers, 70-plus RBI and 10-plus stolen bases.
2016
Began season with Triple-A Rochester but had four different stints with the Twins during season. Hit first major league home run May 15 at Cleveland, a solo shot off Trevor Bauer. Hit safely in season-high 13 straight games May 20-August 11 (time with Rochester in between), hitting .377 (20-for-53) with four doubles, two triples and six RBI in that span. Recorded first career three-hit game August 17 at Atlanta; recorded three hits again August 31 at Cleveland and September 13 at Detroit. Hit .321 (34-for-106) with five doubles, four triples, eight RBI and 11 runs scored in 26 August games...among AL rookies, he ranked first in triples, second in hits and third in batting average. Recorded career-high four RBI, going 3-for-4 with a home run and a double September 13 at Detroit. From time of final recall (July 30) through end of season, ranked third among AL rookies in hits (63), fourth in games (56) and batting average (.288), and tied for fifth in doubles (12) and RBI (23). Combined to hit .279 (150-for-538) with 29 doubles, 10 triples, 13 home runs, 56 runs scored and nine stolen bases in 144 games between Rochester and Minnesota. Hit .309 (21-for-68) as right-handed batter and .271 (48-for-177) as left-handed batter for Twins. Played 47 games (45 starts) at shortstop, nine (all starts) at third base and five (all starts) at second base.
2015
Optioned from Twins spring training to Double-A Chattanooga March 15. A Hit second career grand slam in second game April 10 at Montgomery....Hit safely in season-high nine straight games May 22-June 2, hitting .390 (16-for-41) in that span....Hit .364 (40-for-110) with four doubles, one triple, one home run, 15 RBI and 19 runs scored in 26 May games....Recalled by Minnesota June 10 as Eddie Rosario was placed on Paternity List; optioned back after the game....Named Southern League All-Star and went 2-for-2 with a run scored as a reserve for the North Division....Promoted to Triple-A Rochester July 4....Recorded four hits twice on season, once with Chattanooga May 10 vs. Jacksonville and once with Rochester July 12 at Syracuse... Recalled by Minnesota again July 29 as Trevor Plouffe was placed on Paternity List; optioned to Chattanooga July 31....Hit .323 (21-for-65) against left-handed pitching at Chattanooga and .283 (93-for-329) against right-handed pitching....Played 102 minor league games at shortstop and eight games at second base....Ranked sixth best prospect in Twins system by Baseball America, entering 2016...also ranked 14th best prospect in Southern League by same publication.
2014
Optioned from Twins spring training to Single-A Ft. Myers March 9...Hit .327 (32-for-98) with six doubles, two home runs, 15 RBI and 20 runs scored in 25 April games...Hit safely in 16 straight games May 1-19...Named Florida State League Player of the Week June 16-22, hitting .444 (12-for-27) with one double, one triple, one home run, three RBI and four runs scored in seven games for the Miracle...Recalled by Minnesota June 26 when the Twins placed Yohan Pino on the DL...Made major league debut June 26 at Los Angeles-AL, entering game as pinch hitter and drawing a walk on four pitches, eventually coming around to score...at 20 years and 356 days old, he became the youngest Twin to debut since Joe Mauer at 20 years, 352 days...Recorded first major league hit and RBI June 27 at Texas, hitting a two-run triple off Joakim Soria...according to Stats, LLC, he became the third player in Twins history to record a triple as first major league hit and the first since Jimmie Hall on April 16, 1963; the first was Bernie Allen on April 10, 1962 vs. the Kansas City A's...Optioned to Single-A Ft. Myers June 30 when the Twins activated Trevor Plouffe...Recorded five-hit game for Miracle July 18 at Daytona...Recalled again for a day July 24 when the Twins traded Kendrys Morales to Seattle; optioned to New Britain July 25...Hit first Double-A home run August 27 at Binghamton...Hit .347 (25-for-72) with three doubles, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored and a .413 on-base percentage in his final 19 games for Rock Cats...Ranked eighth best prospect and best strike-zone discipline in Twins system by Baseball America entering 2015...also best defensive shortstop in Florida State League by Baseball America.
2013
Played entire season with Single-A Cedar Rapids and hit two-run homer in first at-bat of the season April 4 vs. Beloit...Hit .341 (30-for-88) in 22 April games, highest monthly average in 2013; hit safely in 17 of the 22 games with nine being multi-hit games...Named Twins minor league Player of the Week May 3, batting .429 (12-for-28) with three doubles and 10 RBI in seven games...Named Midwest League Midseason All-Star...Recorded four RBI on three hits June 27 vs. Burlington Bees...named Twins minor league Player of the Week June 28, recording 11 RBI in five games June 22-27, hitting .500 (12-for-24) during that span...Ended season with 12-game hitting streak August 6-September 2, hitting .327 (16-for-49) with six doubles in that span...Finished the season sixth in the Midwest League batting average (.308)...Ranked 20th best prospect in Midwest League...Played for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League following the season...Added to Twins 40-man roster November 20...Named shortstop on MiLB.com Twins organizational All-Star team...Named 10th best prospect and best strike-zone discipline in the Twins system by Baseball America entering 2014.
2012
Florida State League Player of the Week July 9-15...named second baseman on MiLB.com Twins organizational All-Star team.
2011
Played entire season with GCL Twins...ranked 28th best prospect in Twins organization by Baseball America entering 2012.
2010
Began season in the Dominican Summer League...transferred to Gulf Coast League July 5...rated the best defensive infielder in the Twins system by Baseball America for the second consecutive season...ranked 17th best prospect in Twins organization by Baseball America entering 2011.
2009
Rated the best defensive infielder in the Twins system by Baseball America entering 2010.
