A. J. Pollock

A. J. Pollock was born in Marlborough, Connecticut, to parents Al and Karen Pollock. His family lived an hour and forty minutes away from Foxboro, Massachusetts, and Pollock and his father would routinely make the trip to watch New England Patriots' home games. Pollock attended RHAM High School in his hometown of Hebron, where he played basketball, soccer, and baseball. In his senior year, Pollock was a member of the National Honor Society. That year, he was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Connecticut, receiving the most votes for a Connecticut player since 1974, and was also named the state's Player of the Year by the coaches' association. Pollock finished his high school baseball career with a .411 batting average, 55 runs batted in (RBIs), 26 walks, 27 stolen bases, and eight strikeouts over 248 at-bats. ==College career==

Pollock attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played college baseball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as an outfielder and third baseman. Pollock was named a Freshman All-American, leading the team with a .372 batting average. In 2007 playing for the NECBL Vermont Mountaineers, he won the 10th Player Award. Pollock was rated by Baseball America before his sophomore season as the league's second-best 2009 MLB prospect and best pure hitter. During his sophomore season, Pollock hit .352 and led the team in hitting and stolen bases and was a First-Team All-Big East Conference as a center fielder. After the 2008 season, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he hit .377 and was named MVP of the league. In his junior season at Notre Dame, Pollock hit .365, had an on-base percentage of .443, and a slugging percentage of .610. Pollock also made no errors in 159 chances and stole 21 bases in 25 tries. Pollock became second player ever to lead the team in batting average for three consecutive years. ==Professional career==

Arizona Diamondbacks in The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Pollock in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft. He was chosen as a compensation pick from the Los Angeles Dodgers for the signing of Orlando Hudson. The Diamondbacks invited Pollock to spring training in 2010. He broke his right elbow while attempting to make a diving catch. Pollock missed the entire season due to the injury. In 2011 he played for the Mobile BayBears. He batted .307/.358/.444 in 550 at-bats with 103 runs (leading the Southern League), 41 doubles (third), 36 steals (third), and nine sacrifice flies (third). Batting as a pinch hitter for Justin Upton, Pollock collected his first career MLB hit, a single, on April 23 against the Phillies. He played in 31 games that season for the Diamondbacks, batting .247/.315/.395 in 81 at bats with two home runs and eight RBIs. Up to that point in the season, he was batting .302.353/.498 with 14 stolen bases in 17 attempts in 265 at-bats. He ended the season batting .315 (third in the NL)/.367/.498 in 609 at bats with 22 runs (second in the NL), 39 doubles (third), six triples (sixth), 20 home runs, 76 RBIs, 39 stolen bases (third), an 84.8% stolen base success rate (sixth), and eight sacrifice flies (second), playing 151 games in center field. He led the National League in power-speed number (26.4). He came in 14th in voting for NL MVP. He also won a Gold Glove. Pollock broke his right elbow again at the end of spring training, this time on a slide at home plate, and missed most of the 2016 season. Over the course of 112 games in 2017, Pollock batted .266/.330/.471 in 413 at-bats, with six triples (ninth in the NL), 14 home runs, and 49 RBIs, playing center field. On April 30, 2019, the Dodgers placed Pollock on the injured list with a right elbow inflammation. In September, the Dodgers moved Pollock to left field for the rest of the season. For the season he appeared in 86 games, batting .266/.327/.468, with 15 homers and 47 RBIs. The 2020 season was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Pollock played in 55 of the Dodgers' 60 games. On September 16, Pollock hit his 100th career home run, off of Adrián Morejón of the San Diego Padres. He batted .276/.314 (a career low)/.566 (a career high) with 16 home runs (third in the NL), 12.3 at bats per home run (fifth), and 34 RBIs. Pollock received player of the week for July 5–11, 2021, during the week he had a four-game hitting streak while batting .391/.462/1.043 with three doubles, four home runs and four RBIs. For the 2021 season Pollock batted .297/.356/.537 in 384 at bats with 27 doubles, 21 home runs, 69 RBIs, and nine steals (while being caught once), while playing 103 games in left field and eight games in center field. Overall in 2022, Pollock appeared in 138 games hitting to a .245 average with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. On November 8, Pollock declined his option for the 2023 season and became a free agent. Seattle Mariners On January 12, 2023, Pollock signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Seattle Mariners. Prior to the trade, Pollock appeared in 49 games for Seattle, batting .173/.225/.323 (all career lows), with five homers and 15 RBIs. San Francisco Giants On July 31, 2023, Pollock and Mark Mathias were traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Pollock went hitless in five games for the Giants before he was released by the team on September 5. ==International career==

Pollock played for the United States national baseball team at the 2011 Pan American Games. ==Coaching career==

On March 8, 2024, it was announced that Pollock had joined the Seattle Mariners during spring training as a volunteer assistant coach. ==Personal life==

Pollock became engaged to his girlfriend, Kate, in March 2014. They met at Notre Dame, where Kate played for the lacrosse team. They were married after the 2014 season. In May 2020, Pollock and his wife welcomed a daughter at only 24 weeks of gestation, and she spent 128 days in the hospital after her birth. The family resides in Phoenix, Arizona. ==See also==