Part of filling out organizational depth led to the Los Angeles Dodgers signing Steven Souza Jr. to a Minor League contract at the end of March after he was released by the Houston Astros.
Souza wound up being added to the Dodgers’ active roster in the middle of June, and he appeared in 13 games. The veteran outfielder was designated for assignment when the Dodgers called up Nate Jones in July, but wound up clearing waivers and re-signing to remain in the organization.
Now in the final month of the regular season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Souza posted a video to Instagram of an AJ Pollock impersonation. The two not only were Dodgers teammates this year but also played together for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pollock gave Souza his stamp of approval, and so too did other Dodgers.
Steven Souza Jr. with a pretty spot-on AJ Pollock impersonation.https://t.co/xFcz4MTbMX pic.twitter.com/WSCX6Kd9lh
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) September 3, 2021
AJ Pollock and several of his #Dodgers teammates liked Steven Souza Jr.’s work. pic.twitter.com/dB3JavpUCS
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) September 4, 2021
Souza’s accurate representation of Pollock’s batting stance and home run trot is something the Dodgers have frequently gotten a look at this season.
Pollock is enjoying his best season since earning All-Star Game honors with the Diamondbacks in 2015. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has regularly praised Pollock for his performance and attributed some of it to getting leaner after carrying more muscle mass in 2020 and years prior.
“Hitting right-handers, left-handers, playing really good defense, being dynamic on the bases, he’s slugging but can downshift and hit a base hit when we need it,” Roberts said. “He’s just been an overall really good player.
“When some guys are running a little bit cold, he’s been picking everybody up and been one of our most consistent performers in the second half.”
Pollock not content
Although the Dodgers collectively appear to be playing their best baseball of the season — even with some offensive lulls — Pollock stopped short of declaring as much or taking comfort in it.
“Baseball is weird. You never quite feel like you’ve arrived,” he said. “Sometimes the offense is grinding and pitching has been great. Sometimes vice versa, the offense is doing good and the pitching is maybe slumping.
“I feel like we’re playing good enough baseball to win a lot of games, for sure. The defense has been playing great, pitching has kept us close, and if you do that, you’re always going to be in games. We should win a lot of games if we keep playing like this but as far as clicking on all cylinders, I don’t know.
“It’s tough to have everything clicking at the same time, but we’ll see.”
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