Let’s be honest here; with the Dodgers having 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger, four-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger Mookie Betts, and guys named Joc Pederson, Max Muncy, and Corey Seager on their 2020 roster, if you had picked A.J. Pollock to be the team’s best hitter after the first week of the 2020 season, you are good!

It’s true. The man who many Dodger fans refer to as the “DO” (Designated Out) is actually hitting .500 through the Dodgers first six games.

Granted, the 32-year-old Hebron, CT native and first-round draft pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 out of Notre Dame and signed by the Dodgers to a lofty 4-year / $55 million free-agent contract on January 26, 2019, has had only 12 at-bats in the young 60-game COVID-19-shortened season, but he is 6-for-12 (.500), with two doubles. He has also walked twice and struck out three times thus far.

Ah yes … those three strikeouts.

During his first full season with the Dodger in 2019, Pollock struck out 74 times in his 308 at-bats (24.03%), while walking only 23 times. And even though he (surprisingly) finished the 2019 regular season with a somewhat impressive .266 batting average, it seemed like every one of those 74 strikeouts came with the game on the line or with runners in scoring position … which brings up an interesting point about his (seemingly) hot start to the 2020 season: He has yet to drive in a single run thus far and has scored only once.

Second on the Dodgers 2020 hit parade from among those with at least 10 at-bats does not (or at least should not) come as a surprise to anyone – it’s 32-year-old Dodgers third baseman and unofficial team captain Justin Turner, who is 8-for-24 (.333) with a team-leading four doubles and team-leading five RBI (tied with utility infielder/outfielder Kiké Hernandez).

Seager is third on the list at 8-for-25 (.320); Pederson fourth at 3-for-10 (.300); and Hernandez fifth at 7-for-25 (.280).

Topping the Dodgers home run list after six games is Muncy with two. Kiké, Seager, catcher Will Smith, and Wednesday night’s hero Edwin Rios each have one.

By no means does six games a season make, and the likelihood that Pollock will finish the shortened season as the Dodgers top hitter are extremely remote.

Then again, with the COVID-19 pandemic already playing havoc on the shortened 2020 MLB season, should oft-criticized MLB commissioner Rob Manfred decide to pull the plug on the season (as many are suggesting he should), Pollock could end up being the Dodgers 2020 batting champ.

…just like we all picked him to be, right?

Play Ball!

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