TODAY: Pollock has indeed gone on the IL. He underwent an “exploratory” procedure last night, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. Depending upon what was found, further work was considered a possibility; the outcome is not yet known as of this morning.
YESTERDAY: The Dodgers are likely to place center fielder A.J. Pollock on the injured list, manager Dave Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other assembled reporters last night. Pollock dealing with an infection in his oft-injured right elbow.
Details remain scant, but Roberts indicated that the issue is related to the prior surgical procedures that Pollock has undergone on the problematic joint. The most recent occurred just before the start of the 2016 season.
Since that time, Pollock returned to action and played two mostly full seasons. He landed with the Dodgers this past winter on a four-year pact that guarantees him at least $60MM (if he triggers a fifth-year player option).
Pollock’s tenure in Los Angeles hasn’t been off to the smoothest start, with the 31-year-old carrying a .223/.287/.330 slash and drawing negative defensive metrics through 115 plate appearances. But he has been healthy and has likely been unfortunate in the batted-ball arena. Statcast credits him with career-best exit velocity and hard-hit percentage while identifying a large spread between output and expectations based upon contact quality (.268 wOBA and .318 xwOBA).
Until we learn more, speculating on Pollock’s outlook would be just that. It’s obviously suboptimal for a potentially thorny issue to arise in that particular area of his body, though the club hasn’t exactly rushed him off to the IL. In Pollock’s absence, whatever that ends up being, Alex Verdugo could see an expanded role (if his usage over the past several days is any indication). The right-handed-hitting Chris Taylor may also stand to receive added opportunities.
Pollock injured again, shocking. Who could have seen this coming.
Yes. He is so fragile with his *checks notes* infection from a previous medical procedure.
“I know, right”?
-Tulo
He has indeed spent a lot of time injured during his career, but to be somewhat fair, he appeared in 225 games between the ’17 and ’18 seasons. Also to be somewhat fair, that surprised me.
225 out of 324 isn’t that great
No, but it’s way more than I thought… It’s only 29 games fewer than Trout played in during the same time frame…
*gasp* who could’ve foreseen this??
Infection control
It’s literally just an infection.
He’s still sidelined on the injured list, right? Point still stands. Doesn’t matter how they get there, they’re there a lot.
This guy is the Tulo of the NL.
Tulo was the Tulo of the NL.
^Well played.
Good point.
Didn’t understand why the Dodgers decided to pick up Pollock in the first place. Verdugo and Chris Taylor could have easily have matched his offensive production, or even exceed it. The only thing he was bringing that either Verdugo or Taylor didn’t was maybe a better glove.
Definitely a better glove in CF was the idea i believe. It’s early and if he can avoid the DL i think he’ll acclimatise fine to Dodger Stadium.
IL. Lol
At least he’s only injured…. If he was disabled….
Even if it was for his glove, I feel they could have just found a good glove first CF to use as a defensive replacement for Verdugo/Taylor.
Verdugo is young (lots of upside) and Taylor too inconsistent imo. He’s running out of time. Pollack was supposed to be a clear cut upgrade, plus glove with 20 homer potential to shepherd in Verdugo. The kid looks good though so far.
Taylor is not a long term option. There’s a whole in his swing that’s getting bigger ever season. He’ll be DFA’d by next year.
Seems that whole in his swing has gotten a hole lot bigger.
Lol, damn autocorrect
“Taylor could have easily matched his offensive production”. How many Dodger games have you watched. Taylor can’t hit water if he fell out a boat
The idea was to get Bellinger out of CF, hence the Puig trade so Belly could slide to Right. Verdugo in ST was fighting to make the roster and Chris Taylor is just the utility man now that Like is our 2nd Baseman. Pollock is stability in center. A minor injury and the right time to take care of it when Verdugo Is hitting so we’ll the ball.
Verdugo should be starting anyway. He has been a top 15 OF this season so far. Pollock has been a top 60 at best
I make this mistake a lot too forgetting its not even 30 games into the season, so totally get it. But remember:
Pollock = long time superstar with career numbers to back up a turnaround
Verdugo – Only had barely above a .800 OPS in the minors.
Verdugo may be better then an injured Pollock, but over the course of a 162 game season + playoffs that Verdugo has never endured, you want AJ back on the field.
As I said elsewhere this doesn’t impact their odds and likely won’t impact their record, but it will show up in September and October. Hopefully, AJ can get back to speed.
Its easy for me to say right now Michael Chavis should be the starting 2nd baseman in Boston. Top prospect, tearing it up. However, if the decision comes to add a guy with more certainty, I sure hope DD makes the phone call rather then betting that Chavis will continue this through the year and into the playoffs (if we even make it at this point).
Trust me… You want Pollock back!
Pollock = never a superstar.
Verdugo = hungry to remain on a good team and never to be sent down again.
Dodgers didn’t need Pollock, shouldn’t have signed Pollock, Pollock does not make the Dodgers better. They don’t want Pollock back.
Here’s one better; Pollock’s best days are behind him.
I would agree his best days are behind him. But to say not a superstar? When he’s right he’s good for a .300 average, .800+ OPS, 20 homers and 25-35 steals. In what world is that not a bonafide superstar? Needless to say he’s only been right about 3 seasons of his career and any long-term deal came with risk. But thinking this guy doesn’t make the lineup better when healthy is foolish.
Not to mention his normally impressive defensive metrics that I’m not reading too much into a 30 game sample.
Also read note about September and October. This is when these prospects that have never been through a full MLB season almost always tail off and usually it’s followed by a “sophomore slump” the following year as pitchers adjust. The Dodgers still need 2 good seasons from Pollock before they can just move on and say “this is the guy.”
There’s no way Pollock is considered a superstar. That’s way to loose of a definition of “superstar”. Sure, when he’s healthy he’s a good player, but no chance is he a superstar.
Superstars are players teams build around. Never in Pollock’s career has he been a player teams build around. And I didn’t even need to use the “he can’t stay healthy” card. Then again, I just did. Health, believe it or not, matters.
Dodgers can tolerate any sophomore slump, if it happens, from Verdugo. The real issue is their bullpen and whether or not they deal an OF not named Bellinger for a bullpen piece. That aside, they will have wished they never signed Pollock. Give it time and a couple more IL stints.
Pollock had good hitters around him during his good years. He has great hitters around him with the Dodgers and still can’t produce. Verdugo is going to see good pitches around Bellinger, Turner, Muncy, Freese, Seager, Joc and maybe Kike.
He’s only had that slash twice in a 8 year career. His lifetime numbers are far from superstar level. By your way of thinking Melky Cabrera is a superstar too.
Right now…Pollock = 60M on DL. I’m sure a good percentage of that contract over it’s full term will be consumed while on the DL.
I’ll bet you even money that Pollock never spends one day on the MLB DL during this contract.
Pollock has never been a “superstar” or even a star. He’s a good player who can’t stay healthy; it felt like a big stretch to give him the contract they did, but it’s just money and the Dodgers basically print money. Pollock reminds me a little of Grady Sizemore, right? Terrific when healthy; never healthy.
It’s called the IL now, by the way. I know some people are going to refuse to use the new terminology because “reasons” but that’s what it’s called now.
Over his career he’s averaged 4.1 WAR per 162 games. Same as Anthony rizzo from 2016- present day. Pollock has definitely been a star, but since he has derived much of his value from defense and base running. Not a prototypical star but he has been a star nonetheless
Right, good player. Not a superstar.
He’s only had one really good season. Not even close to a star!
If Pollock is a “long time superstar” then that label also belongs to half of the league.
I like Pollock and I want him back but it’s just crazy stupid to call him a long-time superstar.
Pollack “long time superstar”????? whoa in what universe are you watching bsaeball….must be an alternate one because this guy does not scream superstar at all!
*yawn* oh no poor Dodgers
Why poor Dodgers?
Sarcasm did you miss it?
He missed it.
People that mock anyone’s injuries are just flat pathetic losers
Analytics Guy: “His advanced metrics show he has vastly underperformed so far this year.”
Also Analytics Guy: “But, here are even more advanced metrics showing he is just unlucky and has actually been getting out really well.”
oKaY!!!
I think you read that wrong.
What it says is:
Offense: He’s unlucky and his line is not representative of his contact. Good advanced metrics.
Defense: Drawing bad advanced metrics.
It wasn’t at all a contradiction. Easy to misread though.
Probably just me. I’m slow
Haha we’ve all done it. Read it again and said, “oops”. 🙂
Stop with the metrics stuff and look with your eyes…..metrics are just an excuse for trying to make poor play into something that has an asterisk*!!!
Man, it must suck having something live rent free in your head like that. Metrics are eating you alive.
Feel awful for Pollack… This is that type of nagging thing that is never going to go away entirely. But the Dodgers were prepared for this and have the depth to overcome it, even if it does wind up being a longer-term injury. I don’t think this injury will impact their odds much.
Staying healthy is a skill and perhaps the only skill AJ Pollock doesn’t have..
THE single dumbest thing I’ve ever read on here. Thats saying a lot.
This is sincerely not a dumb comment at all.
Hitting more better than .250 is also a skill which he doesn’t have anymore…
Shocking! Pollock is always the picture of health.
Took him longer than usual, good job.
Never wanted this guy and his $60M commitment
Should have spent the money a year earlier on Lorenzo Cain
Duh
Pollock hurt? yeah, and water is wet
Everyone could see he was the player to be avoided last winter… esp for what he signed for and his injury history. When they made that trade with Cincy that offloaded Puig/Kemp it screamed for them to sign Harper. Oh well.
When they unloaded Kemp and Puig it screamed getting rid of a corner OF logjam and 2 big egos
Offloading money but not on loading comparable offense XDDDD
Sign Harper and add to an already lefty dominated lineup? Ya, that makes perfect sense……. not.
Offloading enough offense and even remotely close to matching it mashes even less sense. Lol Pollock
Since when did getting rid of two guys on 1 year contracts, scream giving 13 years/$330m+ to Harper? That’s a lazy narrative.
Since it was both best for business and replenishing an abundance of lost offense between Puig,Kemp,Grandal… Cody love won’t hit .400 all season 😛
Harper? Lol You could not be anymore clueless on your statements
Lololol WAS attendance jumped ever since he we promoted, PHI jersey and ticket sales through the roof, transformative lineup presence. .. Not that you’d wanna bring any evidence to your point bc it was just utterly demolished.
Who will be called up to take Pollock roster spot?
You could probably make two all-star teams with all the players on the IL
Loved the guy in Az. Was always hurt. A good year going forward would be 120 games more likely to be 80. You don’t get better as you get older unless you are Bonds and McGwire. They had help
Taylor needs to be gone or send him back to the minors
Dodgers didn’t need to sign Pollock. They needed to strengthen their bull pen.
Excellent! I’ve been hoping for a way for Roberts to sit Pollock and play Verdugo every day. Now I just need Taylor to come up lame somehow……
If anyone ever earned good karma in the injury division…
Dodgers have not made one good signing since Friedman besides extending players they already have…
Yet they somehow win 90 games every year. Friedman really stinka
Yes, all prospects they have relied on. I’m just saying get a new free agent evaluator that’s all. They could be unstoppable… McCarthy/ Kazmir now Kelly / Pollock
Agree Zach
1 month into 3/5 year deals. Yeah lets call it a wrap. They are both busts
Yea, only took a month of play to figure it out haha Something everyone else already knew…
Signing Maeda has been solid. And more important than signing guys has been Friedman’s refusal to trade the prospects who are now raking for the big club. If you want to just be negative, that’s your right. If I was you, I’d try to do it more intelligently.
Freese, Taylor, Hill, Maeda, Ryu, Jansen, Turner were all free agent signings.
Just for the record, Taylor was acquired in trade (for Zach Lee), Freese was traded to the Dodgers with an option for this season, and Ryu was originally purchased from his team in Korea.The QO he accepted was technically free agency but since only one team can make a QO to a free agent, it’s a free agency signing in name only. FWIW….
What was wrong with Bellinger in CF? He looked fine there, especially as he got more time. Are Taylor and Verdugo both better defensively in CF than Bellinger?
Who could’ve seen this coming.
The Dodgers would be best suited to leave Chris Taylor as a bench player & not in the starting lineup.
As a Dodger Chris Taylor 359 games 1174 AB 307 H 354 SO 117 BB 40 HR 149 RBI 181 R 27 SB & .261 BA Taylor lead the NL in 2018 in Strikeouts & was one of the top strikeout hitters in the NL in 2017 & in fact Taylor’s BA is continuing to drop at the end of 2017 Taylor’s BA as a Dodger was .267 & to this point of 2019 his career Dodger BA is .261
Next time I have an ache or pain, I won’t go to my doctor, I will just come here. So many medical experts, and their opinions are free. Worth almost that much and less.
BlueSky no team is perfect don’t see why you can’t be a fan but still disagree with some of the moves they made. They have made mistakes. Which moves do you not agree with?
What in the world does this question have to do with my comment? Nothing. You seem to specialize in non-sequiturs.
The guy can’t catch a break with that right elbow or Dodge the injured list
So Jeff Todd, I’m am banned again from commenting because I said Verdugo will see better pitches with the current offense than Pollock did with AZ when he played with AZ?
AJ only lasted a month.
At least the dodgers have Verdugo, Kike, and Taylor
LAD has a good crop of promising INF and corner OFs in the minors but, nothing much coming up to play CF. Perhaps that’s what motivates them to acquire CF AJ Pollock. Not that I’m criticizing (I admire their creativity.), except for the Manny Machado acquisition last season, LAD seems to make a habit of the unexpected.
Actually, quite a bit more is known as of this morning. Pollock will have the elbow flushed out and topical antibiotics applied to the infection. If the device that was inserted into his surgically-repaired elbow is found to be in good shape, he could be playing again in a few weeks. If repairs are required, the predicted timeline is six weeks or longer.
And this is why the dodgers had no reason not to wait for a short term deal. Nobody else was after him for a reason