MESA, Ariz. — Too often during his career, A.J. Pollock has been his own worst enemy.
Only twice in nine years has he been able to play more than 113 games in a season due to a persistent assortment of injuries that have dogged him in the big leagues.
Last year, though, the combination of a shortened regular season, the universal DH and a platoon partner in Joc Pederson made things easier on Pollock and he produced accordingly. His .276 batting average was his highest since his All-Star season in 2015. His .566 slugging percentage and .881 OPS were career-highs and his 16 home runs tied for third in the National League.
It was a solid bounceback season after a subpar — and injury-marred — first year with the Dodgers.
The Dodgers would like to see the 33-year-old Pollock stretch that out over the standard 162-game schedule in 2021. But he will have to do it without the DH (with the exception of interleague road games) — or a platoon partner, Pederson having taken his talents to the Chicago Cubs.
“AJ had a heck of a year last year. And I think that, obviously, he’s a guy that we value,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Pollock’s every-day role now. “You’ll see him in left field, predominantly. He hits lefties and righties, so he’ll be a regular out there but also understanding that Chris Taylor, Matt Beaty, Zach McKinstry guys like that are going to get some time out there, too.
“How that looks right now, I don’t know. But to know that AJ is going to play regularly is a pretty fair assumption.”
In last year’s 60-game season, Pollock started just 37 games in the outfield, splitting left field almost equally with Pederson (22 starts to 20) and also starting 15 times in center field and 10 time at DH. Pederson had a down year but Pollock held up his half of the platoon, crushing left-handed pitching — a .345 batting average and .818 slugging percentage thanks to seven home runs in just 55 at-bats.
“I don’t know. … I know this club has a lot of strings they can pull,” Pollock said when asked if he expected to be the every-day starter in left field this year. “For me, I just go out there and prepare like I’m gonna play every single day and we’ll see what happens. I miss Joc. He’s a good friend of mine, a lot of fun to have around. But whether he’s out there or anyone else is out there with me doesn’t really change how I prepare.”
Pollock couldn’t have been prepared for what he and his family went through last year. His daughter, Maddi, was born three months premature on March 19 and spent the first 128 days of her life in the neo-natal intensive care unit at a Phoenix area hospital. During that stressful ordeal, Pollock also contracted COVID-19 and had to quarantine in his house, away from his wife and their baby for 10 days.
As Maddi’s first birthday approaches, spring training (even with its COVID restrictions) “just feels normal” this time around for Pollock.
“Maddi’s got a lot of energy and she’s running around. She’s keeping me on my toes,” Pollock said. “But as far as the stress level — yeah, this is all good stuff now.”
TWO-WAY PLAYER
Matt Davidson hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to give the Dodgers a 2-1 win in their Cactus League opener against the Oakland A’s Sunday. Davidson is a corner infielder with power — he hit 26 home runs in 2017 and 20 in 2018 with the Chicago White Sox.
The Dodgers signed Davidson to a minor-league contract as a potential right-handed bat off the bench and, after Sunday’s game, Roberts said Davidson is “in the mix” for a spot on the roster. But Davidson has a potential asset working in his favor. He is “open to the idea of logging some innings out of the ‘pen,” Roberts said Sunday.
Davidson has pitched 6 1/3 innings in the big leagues with the White Sox and Cincinnati Reds. The right-hander has already thrown a bullpen session during workouts and “very well could” pitch in a game this spring, Roberts said.
“I just think that for a plus or a minus situation (not a close game) to save an arm has a lot of value,” Roberts said.
ALSO
Right-hander Joe Kelly was back in camp Sunday after feeling ill earlier in the weekend. He resumed his throwing program but has still only thrown off a mound briefly once. … Keibert Ruiz has not reported to camp.
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