The long anticipated arrival of Gregory Polanco to the Pirates and PNC Park will take place this evening against the Chicago Cubs. I have not written much about the dance that has been taking place over the last two months as Polanco has been tearing up the International League, while the Pirates have been struggling, especially in right field, and while Neal Huntington has refused to bring Polanco the the big leagues until he "checks all the boxes" at Triple-A. Money and delaying Polanco's arbitration/free agent eligibility, of course, had nothing to do with him not being here. I haven't written about it, because we have been through this dance before with Gerrit Cole, Pedro Alvarez, and Andrew McCutchen, so why get in a lather about it? It's just the way the Pirates (and, to be fair, lots of other teams) do business.
Anyway, Polanco's arrival is a bit bittersweet, because it comes at the expense of Neil Walker being put on the DL following an emergency appendectomy last night. Walker has been having his best year, and a case could be made for him being the Bucs' best player in 2014. Coming on the heels of Cole going on the DL for "shoulder fatigue", it could just be that this is going to be one of those kinds of seasons for the Pirates.
Anyway, I will be in PNC Park tonight for the heralded arrival of Gregory Polanco. Here's hoping for good things tonight and for a long career ahead.
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