Gregory Polanco had only one hit last night during a 15 run outburst by Indianapolis, but that hit was a big one. With his team down 6-3 in the fourth inning, he came up with two outs and two men on and delivered this three-run homer that got out of the ballpark in a hurry. It’s a dangerous spot for a pitcher, facing Polanco with runners in scoring position. In 54 at-bats, he has a .481/.533/.778 slash line, with 36 RBIs. For comparison sake, the Pirates RBI leader this season is 27 from Pedro Alvarez. While Polanco leads the International League with 43 RBIs, the second highest total in the league is 34, or two less than Polanco has in just those 54 at-bats with RISP. He isn’t just an RBI machine either, he also leads the IL in runs, hits, triples, total bases, extra-base hits, OBP, slugging percentage, batting average and OPS. Basically, he’s good.
The second highlight from last night is this two-run homer by Mel Rojas Jr. from Altoona’s 11-6 win over Erie. Rojas is having a solid season this year, hitting .302 with an .807 OPS in 45 games. He has been great in the month of May, hitting .337 with a .904 OPS. The switch-hitting center fielder has also excelled from both sides of the plate, though the right side seems to be more of a slap hitter that gets on base, while he has shown some power from the left side. He is hitting .310 as a righty, but has just one extra-base hit(a homer) in 42 at-bats. As a lefty, he has nine doubles, a triple and three homers, leading to a higher OPS from that side.