Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 12 we preview, Placido Polanco.

Placido Polanco– After being a 19^th round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1994, Polanco has turned in to a high quality major league player. Polly made his big league debut in 1998, and in 2012 prepares to begin his 15^th big league season. He played 4 ½ seasons with St. Louis before being traded to the Phillies in the Scott Rolen deal in 2002. He played for the Phillies for 3 ½ seasons until he was traded in mid-season, to make room for Chase Utley, to the Tigers. He played in Detroit for 4 ½ seasons, hitting .311, before returning to the Phillies as a free agent for the last 2 seasons. Although he’s bounced around a bit, Polly still holds a career .301 batting average.  The interesting thing about Polanco’s career is he’s gotten better with age. He didn’t win a Gold Glove until 2007 and has added two more since, 2009 and 2011. He’s also made 2 all star games, in 2007 and 2011. The most interesting statistic in Polly’s career is that he is currently the “All Time Career Leader in Fielding Percentage by a 2^nd Baseman” at .992% and he’s also the “All Time Career Leader in Fielding Percentage by a 3^rd Baseman” at .993%. Pretty impressive statistics! Polly is in the final year of his contract in 2012 with 2013 as a mutual option year.

Personal Analysis:

Each day as we write these profiles the Phillies are changing due to injuries. We knew Ryan Howard would start the season on the Disabled List and yesterday news about Chase Utley looks like it could put him on the DL for opening day and maybe much longer. The loss of Utley makes it even more important that Polanco stay healthy and have a solid season in the 2^nd spot in the lineup. Polly, along with Jimmy Rollins, will need to set the table and score a lot of runs as the Phils try to figure out how to manufacture runs rather than depend on the long ball like they have the last few seasons. As a .300 career lifetime contact hitter, that doesn’t strike out much, Polly is a great fit for the #2 spot in the Phillies lineup. Our prediction for Polly in 2012 is a .285 batting average, 8 HR’s, 50 RBI’s and solid on defense, as always.

 Tomorrow we will preview John Mayberry, Jr.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins.

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