Newest member of the NY Mets lineup set an impressive MLB record last season

MLB.com’s Mike Petriello noticed something unique about Jorge Polanco from 2024-2025 and did some digging. It turns out the newest member of the New York Mets lineup set an impressive record last season.

A strikeout drop of 13.6% from 29.2% to 15.6% is outstanding, made more so by how it’s the best year-to-year improvement in this number any MLB player has ever made. How did Polanco manage to do this?

Jorge Polanco saw a problem, fixed it, and the Mets are crossing their fingers he can do it again

More unique than the 15.6% strikeout rate last year was the 29.2% from 2024 posted by Polanco. He’s at only 19% for his entire career with the 2022-2024 seasons all trending upwards of about 4% per season until we arrive at the horrific rate in 2024. Polanco had a disastrous season with the Seattle Mariners where he batted only .213 with 137 strikeouts.

Cutting down his strikeouts to 82 last year in far more plate appearances, Polanco improved across the board. An early-season change in his stance, a flatter swing, and change in attack angle all resulted in making more contact like he did earlier on in his career with the Minnesota Twins.

Petriello cites past knee injuries and other lower body ailments as a reason as to why Polanco thrived even more than anyone would’ve expected. More time as the DH didn’t hurt either as it kept him healthy, fresher, and more focused on the strongest part of his game.

Staying on the field has been a part of Polanco’s problem in recent seasons. The 2025 season was his first with 500+ plate appearances since 2021 when he hit 33 home runs and drove in 98, both career-highs. From one of the league’s worst defensive shortstops to a below-average second baseman to a guy whose main defensive job with the Mets will be to play first base (rarely perhaps), it does seem as if he has followed the trend of many aging bat-first players.

Far from a superstar acquisition by the Mets and more of an added touch-up we weren’t really thinking about, his rise back up after years of steadily falling is something they’ve bought into. By cutting his strikeout rate nearly in half, he becomes more than a DH who’ll be relied upon to lean into a home run. He becomes a more complete hitter whose .985 OPS last year with runners in scoring is sure to make fans out of many in Citi Field if that trend continues over the next two seasons.