Kovacevic: Don't dare sleep on Polanco

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The standard baseball swing, regardless of the competition level, is loaded with intricacies. It's a million moving parts, convolved with multiple moving thought processes and, oh, yeah, that annoying moving ball.

Add into the mix a long, loopy swing like Gregory Polanco's, and all of the above can be multiplied many times over.

So, theoretically, whether Polanco is streaking or slumping, it should be extremely complicated to fully comprehend why, right?

"I just need to sleep better," the kid was telling me with a beaming smile the other morning in the Pirates' clubhouse. "I learned that. When I sleep good, when I'm feeling good, I hit."

Oh.

"I'm serious," he continued, despite my quizzical look. "I started last summer."



He actually pinpointed the date. It was the first of July. His season average was at .233, and he'd barely added any pop with three home runs to that point. But on that night in Detroit, he went 3 for 4 with a double and walk and looked every bit the protege everyone had been awaiting.

And his secret was simple: He began going to bed early every evening -- or at least as early as games and travel would allow -- and began rising as soon after sunrise as possible. It carried into the offseason and here at spring training, too. He's asleep as early as 8-9 p.m. and up with the roosters.

"It's not easy. It's still not easy. It's not normal for me. But I'm getting better. And now when I'm here, when I'm playing baseball, I feel much better. I can concentrate. I can focus. I can do my work. I feel really good all the time."

If you're waiting for the punch line here, there isn't one. Not everything about sports is all that complex.

And neither is this: I'm picking Polanco as my annual breakout candidate for the Pirates, following a tradition I'd set going back to my beat days. He's 24, he has all five tools to the extreme, and he's coming off a season in which, even including his blah period, he batted .256/.320/.381 with nine home runs and 55 RBIs.

He's capable of so, so much better. And to ask him about that, I walked to a nearby cement-block wall and reached as high as I could to suggest he should be way up there this season. At 6-5 and three inches taller, he came over and reached far higher, maybe cheating on his tiptoes.

"No. Up there," he said as he touched near the top. "You'll see."

• There's a fine line between respecting what Ray Searage has done and expecting minor miracles, and I began wondering a few months back if it hasn't already been crossed. For every Edinson Volquez and J.A. Happ, there will always be a Locke or Charlie Morton or someone else from this current crew.

I asked Juan Nicasio, the spring sensation who's the latest to fall into this perception, what Searage has changed about any aspect of his repertoire or approach.

"Nothing," Nicasio replied, flatly.

Not even a thought process?

"Nothing. I'm still me. He's letting me be me."

This is anything but a criticism of Searage. He's a beautiful human being and has been a godsend as pitching coach. But the moment it becomes presumed he can fix anyone anywhere, that's when your front office can pretty much snooze through an offseason, not bother adding any significant arms and ... hey, wait a minute!

• Just loving the look and feel of adding John Jaso atop the lineup. With his eye, patience and general intelligence, he could, right off the bat, set the table and the tone for all who follow.