SARASOTA, Fla. — In the mornings, on his way from the McKechnie Field batting cages back to the clubhouse, Gregory Polanco stops by the sliding mat. He’ll practice a few slides, then go on with his day.
“You do two or three, that’s good,” baserunning coach Rick Sofield told him.
To hear Polanco tell it, every aspect of the game received attention this spring. He has not one focus but many. He showed both potential and production in his first full season in the majors last year. The next step is maintaining it.
The first thing Polanco brought up on his to-do list was to “get my bat right,” meaning find his timing by the time the season starts.