Allen Lorenz "A. J." Pollock (born December 5, 1987) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who is a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. The Diamondbacks selected Pollock in the first round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2012. Pollock was an

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

and won a Gold Glove Award in 2015.

Early life

A. J. Pollock was born in

Hebron, Connecticut Hebron is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,098 at the 2020 census. Hebron was incorporated May 26, 1708. In 2010, Hebron was rated #6 in Top Towns in Connecticut with population between 6,500 and 10,000, ...

to parents Al and Karen Pollock. His family lived an hour and forty minutes away from

Foxboro, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 a ...

, and Pollock and his father would routinely make the trip to watch New England Patriots' home games. Pollock attended

RHAM High School RHAM High School (Regional Hebron, Andover, and Marlborough) is a regional public high school located in Hebron, Connecticut, United States. Overview RHAM's former team name, the Sachems, comes from the name of Native American Indian Chiefs of ...

in his hometown of Hebron, where he played basketball, soccer, and baseball. In his senior year, Pollock was a member of the National Honor Society. That year, he was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Connecticut, receiving the most votes for a Connecticut player since 1974, and was also named the state's Player of the Year by the coaches' association. Pollock finished his high school baseball career with a .411

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, 55

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs), 26 walks, 27 stolen bases, and eight

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

over 248 at bats.

College career

Pollock attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, where he played

for the

as an

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. Pollock was named a Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n, leading the team with a .372 batting average. In 2007 playing for the NECBL Vermont Mountaineers, he won the 10th Player Award. Pollock was rated by Baseball America before his sophomore season as the league's second-best 2009 MLB prospect and best pure hitter. During his sophomore season, Pollock hit .352 and led the team in hitting and stolen bases and was a First-Team All-

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

as a center fielder. After the 2008 season, he played collegiate summer baseball for the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie Alle ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he hit .377 and was named MVP of the league. In his junior season at Notre Dame, Pollock hit .365, had an on-base percentage of .443, and a slugging percentage of .610. Pollock also made no errors in 159 chances and stole 21 bases in 25 tries. Pollock became second player ever to lead the team in batting average for three consecutive years.

Professional career

Arizona Diamondbacks

The

selected Pollock in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft. He was chosen as a compensation pick from the

for the signing of

Orlando Hudson Orlando Thill Hudson (born December 12, 1977) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball from 2002–2012 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, ...

. The Diamondbacks invited Pollock to spring training in 2010. He broke his right elbow while attempting to make a diving catch. Pollock missed the entire season due to the injury. Pollock was called up to the majors for the first time on April 18, 2012, and made his debut that day. Batting as a pinch hitter for

Justin Upton Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. Nicknamed "J-Up", he has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tig ...

, Pollock collected his first career MLB hit, a single, on April 23 against the Phillies. He played in 31 games that season for the Diamondbacks, batting .247 with two home runs and eight RBIs. In 2013, Pollock batted .269 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs the course of 137 games. Pollock missed the second half of the 2014 season with an injury. Up to that point in the season, he was batting .302. In 2015, he was named a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

All-Star. He ended the season batting .315 with 20 home runs and 76 RBIs. He led the National League in power-speed number (26.4). Pollock signed to a two-year contract extension worth $10.25 million on February 8, 2016. Pollock broke his right elbow again at the end of spring training, this time on a slide at home plate, and missed most of the 2016 season. In the 12 games he would appear in during the 2016 season, Pollock would record 10 hits on 41 at bats, a .244 batting average. On May 15, 2017, Pollock was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a right groin strain. Over the course of 112 games in 2017, Pollock would record a batting average of .266, 14 home runs, and 49 RBI. In 2018, Pollock hit .257 with 21 home runs and 65 RBIs over 113 games. He was also 13 for 15 in stolen base opportunities.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 26, 2019, the

announced that they had signed Pollock to a four-year contract, with a player option for another year. On April 30, 2019, the Dodgers placed Pollock on the injured list with a right elbow inflammation. He did not rejoin the team until July 12. In September, the Dodgers moved Pollock to left field for the rest of the season. For the season he appeared in 86 games, batting .266/.327/.468, with 15 homers and 47 RBIs. The 2020 season was shortened because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, but Pollock played in 55 of the Dodgers' 60 games. On September 16, Pollock hit his 100th career home run, off of Adrián Morejón of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. He batted .276/.314 (a career low)/.566 (a career high) with 16 home runs and 34 RBIs. In the postseason, Pollock had one hit (a double) in five at-bats in the

Wild Card Series The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Major League Baseball postseason, postseason. A single wild card game was first ...

, three hits in 10 at-bats in the 2020 NLDS, four hits in 20 at-bats in the 2020 NLCS and one hit (a double) in six at-bats in the

2020 World Series The 2020 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2020 season. The 116th World Series was a best-of-seven-playoff between the American League (AL) champion Tampa Bay Rays and the National League (NL) champion Los Ang ...

, which the Dodgers won in six games. On May 2, 2021, against the Milwaukee Brewers, Pollock hit two home runs (including a grand slam) and drove in a career high eight RBI. Pollock received player of the week for July 5–11, 2021, during the week he had a four-game hitting streak while batting .391/.462/1.043 with three doubles, four home runs and four RBI. For the 2021 season Pollock had a .297 batting average with 21 home runs and 69 RBI. In the post-season, he was hitless in three at-bats in the Wild Card Game, had three hits in 11 at-bats (.273) over four games in the

2021 NLDS The 2021 National League Division Series were two best-of-five-games series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine the participating teams of the 2021 National League Championship Series. The three divisional winners, seeded first through thir ...

and eight hits in 21 at-bats (.381) with two home runs in the

2021 NLCS The 2021 National League Championship Series was the best-of-seven series in Major League Baseball (MLB) between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the National League pennant and the right to play in the 2021 World Series. The B ...

Chicago White Sox

On April 1, 2022, Pollock was traded to the

in exchange for

Craig Kimbrel Craig Michael Kimbrel (born May 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicag ...

. Overall in 2022, Pollock appeared in 138 games hitting to a .245 average with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. Pollock declined his option for 2023 making him a free agent.

International career

Pollock played for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

Personal life

Pollock became engaged to his girlfriend, Kate, in March 2014. They met at Notre Dame, where Kate played for the

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

team. They were married after the 2014 season. In May 2020, Pollock and his wife welcomed a daughter at only 24 weeks old, and she spent 128 days in the hospital after her birth. The family resides in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, A. J. 1987 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Diamondbacks players Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Baseball players from Connecticut Chicago White Sox players Falmouth Commodores players Gold Glove Award winners Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball left fielders Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Mobile BayBears players National League All-Stars Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Hebron, Connecticut Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Reno Aces players Scottsdale Scorpions players South Bend Silver Hawks players United States national baseball team players