Arizona Diamondbacks: A.J. Pollock Fractures Elbow
Just days before the start of the regular season, the Arizona Diamondbacks were dealt a tremendous loss when A.J. Pollock fractured his elbow.
On Friday night Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock fractured his right elbow on a slide at home plate. The injury will require surgery, and the time table for Pollock’s return is unknown. As Steve Gilbert notes, Pollock had been struggling with the same elbow all spring. This isn’t the first time Pollock has suffered this injury either. He fractured the same elbow in 2010 and it cost him the entire season.
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This is a major blow for a Diamondbacks team that was hoping to contend this season. Pollock was coming off of an All-Star season in which he hit .315/.367/.498 to go along with 20 HR and 76 RBI. Not only was he a force at the plate, but he gave the Diamondbacks well above average defense in center field. There were questions about whether Pollock could keep up this level of production, but even if he regressed a little it will be difficult to replace him this close to opening day.
During the offseason Arizona made a number of acquisitions to try and get them in contention in the NL West. The additions of Zack Greinke, Shelby Miller, and Jean Segura were all expected to help accelerate the rebuild for a team that finished 79-83 a year ago. Clearly the loss of Pollock is a major setback for that goal.
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The obvious question is where the Diamondbacks go from here. Their current depth chart lists Socrates Brito as the back up in center, but he’s yet to play more than 20 major league games in a season. As of this morning he had not officially made the team yet, but this news will likely affect that decision. MLB Pipeline lists Brito as the 14th best prospect in the Diamondbacks system.