Has there been a correct term coined yet for what Jorge Polanco has done for the Seattle Mariners during the playoffs?

Mr. October? Well, Reggie Jackson already holds that moniker. Polanctober? Perhaps.

Morosi on Mariners: Why ALCS may be very different back in Seattle

Whatever you want to call it, the switch-hitting second baseman has authored several of the biggest postseason hits in Mariners history, and he’s helped the team pull within two wins of its first-ever trip to the World Series.

According to ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, what Polanco is providing the Mariners is a part of the recipe needed to win it all in October.

“It’s remarkable what he’s done this postseason, and it’s the sort of thing on which World Series runs are built,” Passan said Tuesday during his weekly conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “It’s great to have Cal Raleigh performing like he has, and you know after all these years that you can rely on the starting pitching that the Mariners have.

“But you need those other contributors, you need someone to have like an Eddie Rosario series, and right now that’s Jorge Polanco – Eddie Rosario’s teammate for a while with the Minnesota Twins.”

Polanco has eight total hits through Seattle’s first seven postseason games, six of them have driven runs. He leads the club with three homers and eight RBIs, and is tied for second with five runs scored.

With a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth inning of Monday’s Game 2 of American League Championship Series, he moved into a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise record with four go-ahead plate appearances in a single postseason, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

“To have that version of Polo show back up in October, and I don’t know that he’s leading this team, that’s Cal Raleigh now and forever, but he’s that second banana,” Passan said. “He’s that guy who – I mean, you don’t see many second baseman hitting cleanup. You don’t see many second baseman coming through in the clutch the way that he has. And just knowing that there’s someone who has that slow heartbeat and in big moments is not going to cower or turtle, but step up and say, ‘I want to own this.’ What a luxury for the Mariners to have.”

While just about every one of Polanco’s postseason contributions have come in massive moments, none stand out more than his walkoff single during the 15th inning of Game 5 of the AL Division Series against Detroit, which sent Seattle to its first ALCS in 24 years.

“This is gonna be right up there with Edgar (Martinez’s) walkoff double. We’re gonna see Jorge Polanco taking that swing and sending the Mariners past Detroit and into the ALCS,” Passan said, “and it’s even better knowing what came next, right? Now, I don’t want to get too far ahead here, but what the Mariners did in the immediate aftermath of that is go on the road against the number one seed in the American League and absolutely destroy them for two days.

“And the first day it was like a more of a mental destruction. The second game was just talent-wise they made (the Blue Jays) look like a JV team. The Mariners looked like the big, bad boys that we’ve always known that they can.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

Seattle Mariners-Toronto Blue Jays ALCS coverage

• Seattle Mariners silence Blue Jays’ big bats in first two ALCS games
• Blue Jays find pitching around Mariners’ Cal Raleigh isn’t so simple
• Instant Reaction: Seattle Mariners roll to 10-3 ALCS Game 2 win in Toronto
• Why Jays challenged out-of-play call vs. Mariners in ALCS
• Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald calls M’s playoff run ‘inspiring’