Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Jorge Polanco rebounded in 2025, posting a .265/.326/.495 line with 26 home runs and a 134 OPS+ across 138 games for Seattle. The underlying metrics support the bounce-back: his 89.9 mph average exit velocity and 45.8% hard-hit rate were both career-best marks, while his strikeout rate dropped to 15.6% after spiking to 29.2% in 2024. The result was a .348 rOBA and 134 Rbat+, well above league average and a clear return to middle-of-the-order production. Looking ahead to 2026, projections that peg him closer to the low-.250s with 20-23 homers suggest some pullback from last year's career-high ISO (.229) and HR rate (5.0%). That's reasonable given his age and prior volatility, but the improved contact quality and stabilized plate discipline from 2025 give him a higher floor than most mid-tier second basemen. Durability remains the primary variable, yet if he approaches 140 games again, Polanco profiles as a strong MI option with 20-plus homer power and counting stats buoyed by everyday run production.