PITTSBURGH -- At some point this season, Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco knows opponents are going to test his arm. They’ll study the scouting report, read all about Polanco’s surgically repaired left shoulder and try to score from third or take an extra base on a ball hit to right field.

Polanco is expecting it. He’s not worried about it. He almost seems to be hoping for it.

“Oh, yeah. They will, for sure,” Polanco said Thursday. “And I’m ready for them.”

Polanco could say with confidence that he felt healthy from the start of Spring Training. Given more time to work out with his trainer in Miami over the last few months, Polanco feels like he’s almost back to where he was before the left shoulder injury that abruptly ended his promising 2018 campaign and wrecked last season from start to finish.

Ask Polanco why this season is going to be better, and you’ll get a simple answer.

“Because I’m healthy now,” Polanco said. “Last year, I wasn’t healthy. This year, I’m healthy.”

Polanco said on a Zoom call that he’s feeling no pain and no tightness in his throwing shoulder, and he’s “almost 100 percent” when it comes to arm strength. It’s not like it was last year, Polanco said, when the Pirates were planning to align their defense so that he’d only have to throw as far as the cutoff man.

Last Saturday, Josh Bell raved about the batting-practice homers Polanco hit into the river, but more so the throws he made from in front of the Clemente Wall. That was the clearest sign that Polanco’s shoulder is ready to go.

“After having not thrown for maybe 40 or 50 minutes, he went right into right field and made a few throws to third, a few throws to second, a few throws to home, and that was the best I’ve seen his arm since surgery,” Bell said. “We didn’t have a radar on him -- I know he [could throw] 98 [mph] before the surgery -- but he was definitely 90-plus today. So, very hopeful.”

There is seemingly always a sense of renewed hope for Polanco. For years, the Pirates have been saying something along the lines of, “If Polanco stays healthy and puts it all together …” But injuries held him back in 2017, ended his ’18 season early and limited him to 42 games last year.

His recent history makes it easy to forget that the last time we saw Polanco at full strength, he was the team’s most productive hitter.

In 2018, Polanco slashed .254/.340/.499 with 23 homers, 32 doubles and 81 RBIs in 130 games. He led the team in homers, RBIs, slugging percentage and adjusted OPS+. Take out the first two months of that season, before he stepped away from the plate to give himself a better chance to hit inside pitches, and he slashed .281/.354/.547 in 81 games.

That kind of performance is what the Pirates are hoping to see from Polanco this year.

"He's very important to our lineup. He's very important to our club,” manager Derek Shelton said. “There's a lot of good things to come with Gregory Polanco. I am happy with where he's at. I think I told you guys at Spring Training 1.0, his leadership stood out; the way he ran the bases stood out. He comes in every day with a smile on his face and he’s good to go. I think he's poised to have a really big year."

Polanco is now 28, the last man standing from the Pirates’ 2015 National League Wild Card club and, with Chris Archer injured, the team’s highest-paid active player. He’s probably going to bat next to Bell, making him a key figure in a Pittsburgh lineup starved for power.

“I’m excited for the player. I’m excited to watch him this year,” Bell said. “I’m excited to hit in front of or behind him. There’s going to be a lot of runs to be scored.”

More than anything, Polanco wants to show everyone everything he has long believed he’s capable of doing on the field.

“I need to do better than I did in the past,” Polanco said. “That’s me, personally. I want to prove me.”