Jorge Polanco and the Mets’ first-base pivot: a defense-first promise meets a brand-new position

Jorge Polanco is preparing to get time at first base this season, a role he is still learning as Mets camp comes to a close and Opening Day nears. The tension is obvious: New York’s stated emphasis on improved run prevention is now paired with a plan to put a 32-year-old newcomer to the position in a spot that can decide games with a single late-inning play.

Why is Jorge Polanco learning first base right now?

In Port St. Lucie, Jorge Polanco recently spent several minutes in the middle of the Mets’ clubhouse talking through “the intricacies of playing first base” with Keith Hernandez, the former Mets first baseman and an 11-time Gold Glove Award winner. Polanco, still in uniform during the conversation, listened intently as Hernandez did most of the talking. Polanco later described the advice as both technical and psychological: be “on time” to the bag, understand how infielders and the pitching staff prefer throws to first, and carry a mindset of confidence while leaning into range.

The Mets’ on-field plan is clear in broad terms. The club likes Polanco most for his bat, and he is expected to see plenty of time at designated hitter. But when he takes the field, the expectation is first base. Polanco came up as a shortstop and has played mostly second base, making this a real-position conversion rather than a minor tweak.

What does the Mets’ infield strategy reveal about roster priorities?

The Mets’ bigger infield picture includes multiple players with heavy shortstop experience. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said this offseason the club will have a “pretty distinct advantage” on the infield in 2026, built around skill and athleticism that can help run prevention. The tradeoff, as acknowledged in the same framing, is that two infield starters are learning brand new positions: Polanco is expected to become the primary first baseman, while Bo Bichette has shifted from shortstop to third base.

This is not a theoretical exercise. The Mets are already testing how their pieces might move under pressure. In the final days of camp, the club started Bichette at shortstop in a game, a decision presented as a clue about whether the team might carry a combination of players that includes Carson Benge and veteran Mike Tauchman rather than a backup infielder like Vidal Bruján. The scenario described was straightforward: if Francisco Lindor, coming off hamate surgery last month, needed to come out of a game, the Mets could slide Bichette over from third base and backfill third with someone like Brett Baty.

In that context, the first-base plan stands out because it is not merely a shuffle among familiar infield positions. It asks Polanco to do something new while the organization is also balancing roster flexibility and late-game contingency planning elsewhere on the diamond.

With Opening Day close, what is the biggest question at first base?

For the first time since 2018, Pete Alonso will not be the Mets’ starting first baseman on Opening Day. After choosing not to re-sign Alonso—who later signed a five-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles—the Mets signaled a different direction at the position, tied in part to a view that Alonso was not known for defense at first base.

New York’s alternative is a risk-reward bet: the club signed veteran infielder Jorge Polanco to a two-year deal to man first base, a position he has never played before in his career. With Opening Day described as just two days away in the lead-up to these developments, the question is no longer abstract. It is whether the Mets made the right decision at first base after opting to move on from Alonso, especially given that Stearns has emphasized improving defense since the end of last season.

On the reward side, Polanco’s offensive production is explicit: in 138 games last season with the Seattle Mariners, the 32-year-old hit. 265/. 326/. 495 with 26 home runs, 78 RBI, and an. 821 OPS. The concern is positional execution. The same framing that credits his bat also warns that those numbers may fade into the background if his lack of experience at first base becomes a visible liability.

Spring results have been mixed but instructive. Polanco has appeared in nine games at first base this spring and “seemed to play well, ” while also committing his first Grapefruit League error on Friday against the Houston Astros. The Mets’ internal response has not been presented as panic; instead, it has looked like accelerated learning and targeted mentorship—an approach underscored by Polanco’s extended conversation with Hernandez.

As camp closes, the contradiction at the heart of the Mets’ plan remains: the organization’s push to improve run prevention is paired with a first-base solution that depends on quick adaptation. The club is betting that athleticism, preparation, and coaching will close the experience gap fast enough for the choice to hold up when games start to count.