The Los Angeles Dodgers have been plagued by the injury bug in recent weeks — particularly to their position-player group, where a half-dozen worth of contributors are currently on the shelf.
The list includes David Freese, Jedd Gyorko, Kiké Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Tyler White and Alex Verdugo. To a lesser extent, A.J. Pollock can also be lumped into the group as well.
The 31-year-old has been omitted from the Dodgers lineup in eight of the past 14 games, as he is nursing a left groin injury suffered earlier this month in an Aug. 1 matchup against the San Diego Padres.
As a domino effect, Pollock hasn’t looked quite as sharp in center field since aggravating his groin. That was evident earlier this week against the Miami Marlins, when a couple of fly balls he would usually catch at full health fell in for base hits.
Despite missing some time and seeing a drop-off on defense, Pollock has been encouraged with the progression of his left groin injury, via Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times:
“It’s getting better and better,” Pollock said. “I made a lot of progress the last couple of days and got to gain confidence with it, too. It’s moving in the right direction and hopefully, shortly, I won’t even be thinking about it anymore.”
While Pollock has been limited defensively, the same can’t be said for his production at the plate. He went 3-for-3 with three doubles in Tuesday’s series opener against the Marlins but was removed in the sixth inning and subsequently held out of the following game as a precaution.
Pollock returned to the lineup on Thursday, going 1-for-5 with a single. However, he was reduced to a pinch-hit appearance in Friday’s opener against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park.
In most cases, the Dodgers would have likely sent Pollock to the injured list weeks ago. But with their monstrous lead in the National League West, they have the unique luxury of keeping him active and monitoring how he feels after every appearance.
In 52 overall games this season, Pollock is hitting .267/.325/.455 with nine doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 30 RBI over 209 trips to the plate.
