ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The latest Pittsburgh Pirates phenom is 6 feet 4 inches, strong but rangy, with a left arm that could throw baseballs 87 miles an hour at age 17. He looks more like a pitcher than a speedy outfielder with power and uncanny plate discipline, which is what he is and what Rene Gayo thought he could be.

He is Gregory Polanco, and he was pitching when Gayo first saw him in the Dominican Republic in 2009. Polanco had pitched for only a year, he said, and he did not especially care for it. Most teams were underwhelmed; his largest bonus offer was $70,000 when Gayo, the Pirates’ director of Latin American scouting, offered $150,000 — if Polanco would sign as a hitter.

Gayo got his answer when Polanco hugged him. When some of his own scouts mocked him for the decision, Gayo said, he fired them all.

“I’ve made a career out of doing what I thought was right when everybody else was saying something else,” said Gayo, who has scouted for 25 years. “It’s worked out pretty good.”