Outfielder A.J. Pollock 'excited' to join SF Giants for playoff push

A.J. Pollock and the SF Giants are confident he's better than his 2023 numbers suggest. He spoke to reporters on Tuesday about returning to the NL West.

Prior to the team's game on Tuesday night, the SF Giants activated outfielder A.J. Pollock from the injured list and optioned infielder Marco Luciano (Giants Top 3 Prospect) to Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants, of course, acquired Pollock in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Pollock was on the injured list with a hamstring strain, but he was on the verge of returning to action for the Mariners prior to the trade.

Mariners DH A.J. Pollock scores a run against the SF Giants at Oracle Park. (2023) / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

"I've played in this division, I've played against this team, for many years and it's a cool team, cool fanbase," Pollock told reporters prior to the game on Tuesday. "I've admired this club for a long time, and I'm excited to be here."

Pollock has struggled mightily this season, hitting .173/.225/.323 with four doubles and five home runs in 138 plate appearances. However, both Giants manager Gabe Kapler and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi are optimistic he performed better than his numbers suggested. Pollock also cited his inconsistent usage as something that has been a difficult adjustment for him. He only appeared in 14 of the Mariners' 33 games from June 1st through the All-Star break.

"It's a different role than I'm ever used to," Pollock said. "Without sounding like I'm complaining, there were some times when I just felt like the rhythm of the whole thing was a little bit off."

While the Giants are unlikely to use Pollock as an everyday player, Kapler consistently uses every player on his bench. Pollock has often gone multiple games without playing this season. That's unlikely to continue in San Francisco.

"Our players have to be prepared to play almost every day," Kapler said. "Whether you're Austin Slater who starts mostly games against lefties or you're Joc Pederson who starts mostly games against righties, those guys still come to the ballpark every single day ready to play, ready to hit in the biggest moments, ready to run the bases, ready to play defense, all those things that we do with our roster. We're pretty confident that A.J. is going to get the shot of adrenaline he needs as a Giant."

A 12-year MLB veteran, Pollock will make his Giants debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of Notre Dame. Pollock developed into an above-average everyday player with Arizona, posting a .805 OPS and earning an All-Star selection and Gold Glove award with the organization from 2012-2018.

Pollock told reporters that he feels like he's in some of the best shape of his career this season, and his sprint speed data does actually suggest it may be true. Pollock's 28.9 feet per second peak sprint speed this season is the fastest he's recorded since Statcast began recording that data back in 2015. He also feels confident that his numbers at the plate are not reflective of his performance so far this season.

"I felt like throughout the year the quality of swings was pretty good, especially in the beginning of the year," Pollock said. "The results weren't quite there. In the middle of the year, it was okay, not great. And then, towards the last couple of weeks, actually pretty good. So, I got like 130 at-bats over a long period of time. We'll see. I'm ready. I feel like everything's there. The swing feels great in BP and the cage, and I've done it in the past."

Following his Dbacks tenure, Pollock inked a four-year, $55 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Injuries limited Pollock to just 258 games across three seasons, but he was incredibly productive against left-handed pitching and hit .282/.337/.519 with the Dodgers. Entering the final year of his contract, though, the Dodgers traded Pollock to the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel.

Since he joined Chicago, Pollock has been unable to replicate his above-average production. While his offensive production cratered this season with the Mariners, Pollock began trending downward last season, hitting .245/.292/.389 with 26 doubles and 14 home runs in 527 plate appearances.

The choice to option Luciano is a perplexing one given the presence of infielder Isan Díaz on the active roster. Luciano is the best power-hitting prospect in the organization and made his big-league debut in late July. Luciano hit .273/.333/.364 in 12 plate appearances across four games. The decision to pass on upgrading the Giants' middle infield depth at the deadline seemed to be a show of faith in rookie infielders like Luciano and Casey Schmitt.

Nevertheless, the SF Giants are hopeful that A.J. Pollock can return to his previous levels of performance in the National League West. Pollock is a right-handed hitter with an impressive track record against left-handed pitching capable of handling all three outfield positions. The organization hopes they just caught lightning in a bottle.