A.J. Pollock resumes his rehab assignment Saturday. Hopefully by the following Saturday, he is back in a D’backs’ uniform. Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Diamondbacks are getting some good news on the injury front. First, shortstop Chris Owings has moved up to Triple A Reno to continue his rehab from a strained shoulder that has kept him out for almost two months. Also, outfielder A.J. Pollock resumes his assignment after not appearing in a Minor League game since August 8th. Pollock has been out of Major League action since a pitched ball fractured his hand at the end of May.
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The D’backs were hoping that their center fielder would have been with the team by now. Unfortunately, during his first rehab game on July 31st, Pollock was hit on the same hand that was broken two months earlier. Luckily, it was in a different spot that the original fracture but it caused enough discomfort that he had to be shut down a week later. He was hit while playing on the Arizona Rookie League team at the time but before he stopped, he did move on to Reno. In the 21 at-bats before the stoppage, Pollock had two hits. There is no doubt that can be attributed to the plunking. Nevertheless, he feels as though the two weeks off really helped and is now ready to go, as told to Steve Gilbert at mlb.com:
"“I feel like I got a lot of pop back in my hand now,” he said. “Last time I went to try to go out and play, it just felt like something was off.”"
Here is hoping Pollock can get back to Arizona by September 1st and finish what was becoming a breakout season with a flourish. He had won two National League Player of the Week Awards and was on pace to be named to his first All-Star team at the time of his injury.