When the Dodgers signed (then) six-year MLB veteran outfielder AJ Pollock to a lofty 4-year/$55 million free-agent contract on January 26, 2019, it was met with mixed emotions from Dodgers fans. The reason, of course, is that during those six seasons, all with the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks, the (now) 33-year-old Hebron, CT native and Dbacks first-round draft pick in 2009 out of Notre Dame was a perennial pain in the neck for the Dodgers, slashing a combined .291 / .352 / .532 / .884 against them, with 17 home runs and 43 RBI against them.

Was.

In his (thus far) three seasons with the Dodgers, he is slashing .280 / .334 / .505 / .839, with 47 home runs and 138 RBI, and has become a huge fan-favorite. And through his 106 games with the Dodgers this season was hitting a team-best .297, with 16 home runs and 58 RBI.

Was.

In the first inning of Saturday night’s crucial second game of three against the (then) NL West division-leading San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, Pollock blew out his right hammy while, of all things, attempting to steal third base.

“I don’t want to speculate, I know that it wasn’t good,” Roberts told reporters after his team’s 6-1 win over the Giants to again tie them for the division lead. “Obviously, a huge loss in any capacity. From what I’m hearing early on, it’s a Grade-2 strain. So, sort of where we’re at, this is a couple – two, three weeks – at the minimum. So, we just gotta see what he feels tomorrow. But again, I think that the minimum, it’s going to be a couple weeks.”

As for that “two, three weeks – at the minimum” thing, including Sunday’s series finale against the Giants, the Dodgers have 26 regular-season games remaining in 2021 … so there’s that.

Play Ball!

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