Polanco: 'Every at-bat, I feel better'

PITTSBURGH -- Gregory Polanco’s first and last at-bats on Thursday tell the story of how the right fielder is currently finding his way at the plate.

In the second inning, Polanco put a beautiful swing on a first-pitch curveball from Twins starter Kenta Maeda and crushed it 446 feet, bouncing the three-run homer into the Allegheny River. In the ninth, he swung and missed at two curveballs and a fastball from lefty reliever Taylor Rogers.

“I’m still working on it, but it feels good to hit the first one, seeing a breaking ball and adjusting. Every day, every at-bat, I feel better,” Polanco said Thursday. “Feeling now like my hands are working more, so hopefully in the next three or four days, I get locked in. Just trying to work on my timing right now, because my body feels great.”

When Polanco has hit the ball, he’s hit it hard. His average exit velocity of 97.7 mph so far this season is well above his career mark of 89 mph. He barreled up another ball on Thursday, mashing a 102.9 mph line drive that Twins right fielder Max Kepler snagged to rob him of a hit.

“I thought his swings were really aggressive throughout the game,” manager Derek Shelton said. “At the end of the game, he took an aggressive swing on the fastball up. To see him barrel up two balls on the pull side was good for him.”

But Polanco is still working to find his timing after the time he missed in camp following a positive test for COVID-19. That’s evident in his 52.7 percent swing-and-miss rate and his 44.4 percent strikeout rate through 28 plate appearances. Overall this season, he’s just 2-for-24 with three walks and 12 strikeouts.

But Polanco is encouraged by his good health, and he is convinced better timing will come as he gets more reps at the plate.

“I hit in the middle of the lineup and I need to produce, so even though I know I lost like two weeks, whatever, I’m trying to go out there and compete and produce for my team,” Polanco said. “Every time I step in that box, it doesn't matter how I feel. I go up there to compete and put [together] a good AB.”

Howard impressing in relief
Auditioning for a spot on the Opening Day roster with a new team, Iefty reliever Sam Howard struggled to find the strike zone in Spring Training. The Pirates didn’t see much progress in Summer Camp, so they optioned Howard to their alternate training site on July 18.

Since returning to the Majors, though, Howard has been quietly effective in big spots for Pittsburgh. The 27-year-old lefty struck out three over two innings at Wrigley Field last Sunday, and on Thursday, he worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.

Howard admitted he was trying to do too much in Spring Training rather than just trusting his stuff. Three weeks ago at the Pirates’ satellite camp in Altoona, Pa., Howard and pitching coach Joel Hanrahan watched video of the way Howard pitched last year in Triple-A. Howard immediately identified the difference and told Hanrahan, “Look, man, I want to go back to this. I believe in this.

“I just keep reminding myself that I believe that God has me here for a reason, and I believe in myself, so when I go out to the mound, there's no reason for me to think I have to do more,” Howard said. “It's just, believe my stuff is good enough and go right at the hitters."

Holland rolling into Saturday start
Veteran left-hander Derek Holland will start Saturday afternoon against the Tigers at PNC Park, coming off an outing that was better than his final line might indicate.

Holland cruised through 5 2/3 innings against the Twins on Monday at Target Field, allowing only two singles during his first two trips through Minnesota’s lineup. The sixth inning unraveled due in part to a defensive error and a three-walk, no-out performance by reliever Miguel Del Pozo, but Holland left with his head held high.

“My Minnesota game, I feel like that was probably one of the best that I've had for a while with fastball command,” Holland said Friday afternoon. “With all my pitches, I felt like I was doing an outstanding job. Just one inning got away. I give credit to working with [pitching coach Oscar Marin]. I told you guys from Day 1, when I got here in Spring Training, this was a guy that knows my mechanics. Got me back to where I need to be, getting into the right positions at the right time. It's all timing.”

Kela to face hitters
Closer Keone Kela, who is working his way back from the COVID-19 injured list after missing all of Summer Camp and the start of the regular season, will pitch to his teammates in live batting practice on Saturday. That is presumably the final step before Kela is ready to be activated, but it’s possible the Pirates will want to see him in a game-like scenario more than one time.

Shelton wouldn’t say what will come next for Kela after Saturday’s live BP session.

“We’re going to watch him pitch tomorrow and kind of go day by day,” Shelton said.