PHOENIX — Clint Hurdle didn't take issue with Gregory Polanco's decision to slow down while running to first base on a ground ball in the fourth inning Tuesday night at Chase Field.
Hurdle defended Polanco's actions, telling reporters Wednesday morning the Pirates right fielder has been receiving treatments on his hamstrings for the past two weeks. Todd Tomczyk, the team's director of sports medicine, said there are no new issues with Polanco's hamstrings, and he's been receiving those treatments since the end of last season.
With the Pirates trailing by four runs and two runners in scoring position, Polanco hit a ground ball to Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Polanco sprinted out of the batter's box but slowed down a little over halfway up the line, drawing the ire of fans on social media and John Wehner, a color commentator for AT&T SportsNet.
Polanco is playing right field and batting seventh in the series finale against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon.
"I didn’t have any issue about the play because I wasn’t watching him running," Hurdle said. "Sometimes I watch the ball, sometimes I watch the player. When we picked it up and I look at the distance, he ran a 4.68 down the line. He’s been treated for his hamstrings for two weeks. I think there comes a point in time in a player’s evaluation, 'If I can’t get there, if I try and get there and I’m going to be out.' I don’t think he wanted to push it from a health issue."
Although Goldschmidt initially had trouble fielding the ground ball, he collected it with his right hand and Polanco appeared to run slow out of the batter's box. One run scored and Diamondbacks reliever Silvino Bracho struck out the next two batters he faced to strand a runner on third base.
Polanco wasn't available for comment Wednesday morning.
Polanco was limited to 108 games last season because of a lingering left hamstring injury. He struggled when he was on the field, slashing .251/.305/.391. As a result, the Pirates restructured Polanco's diet and workout regimen, and he declared himself healthy upon arriving for spring training.
The 26-year-old had a 1.099 OPS and five home runs with 15 RBIs in 11 games to start the season. However, he's batted .187 in the past 47 games. Polanco is mired in a 3-for-25 month to start June, but his three-run triple on Sunday led the Pirates to a win over the Cubs.
Although he hasn't suffered a new hamstring injury, Hurdle and Tomczyk said the Pirates have continued to monitor Polanco because of the nature of hamstring injuries. The team's four-man outfield rotation is designed to give Polanco, Starling Marte, Corey Dickerson and Austin Meadows ample time off.
"There have been no issues as of late, and yes, that’s more of an athletic development, preventive plan with his history," Tomczyk said of Polanco's recent hamstring treatments.
In May 2011, Hurdle's first season as the Pirates' manager, he benched Andrew McCutchen when McCutchen failed to run to first base on a dropped third strike that got away from Dodgers catcher Rod Barajas in the eighth inning of a 2-0 loss.
Hurdle, though, said Polanco's sprint speed to first was adequate, and he was fine with the play after speaking to Polanco.
"For two straight weeks he’s been receiving treatment," Hurdle said. "It’s not like it’s gone away. He’s tried to monitor it and stay into play. Nobody complained about him running out a triple to third the other day, so you look at what you’re going to pick and what you’re going to focus on. I think it got to the point in time where he was trying to get down the line, saw he was going to be out and said, ‘OK, I don’t want to injure myself.’ That’s the conversation and thoughts we had as we worked through it."