SF Giants assign top prospect back to Triple-A, making room for ‘golden nugget’
SAN FRANCISCO – AJ Pollock has been a free agent three times in his 12-year MLB career – including last offseason — and said that every time, it felt like he had a conversation with Farhan Zaidi.
“It just never worked out,” Pollock said about his talks with the Giants’ president of baseball operations. “Just maybe the timing was all messed up, and this was the right time.”
A day after he and minor-league utilityman Mark Mathias were acquired from Seattle for a player to be named later or cash, Pollock was in the lineup Tuesday night, hitting ninth and playing left field, as the Giants activated him off of the 10-day injured list and assigned rookie infielder Marco Luciano to Triple-A Sacramento.
Pollack had been dealing with a minor left hamstring strain but said Tuesday afternoon that he was ready to play. Luciano played four games for the Giants from last Wednesday to Sunday and had three hits and a walk in 12 plate appearances. Luciano, who is considered the Giants’ second-best prospect behind left-hander Kyle Harrison, also struck out five times.
The Pollock trade turned out to be the only move that Zaidi made prior to Tuesday’s 3 p.m. (PDT) trade deadline, even as they held a tenuous grip on a National League playoff spot. The Giants (58-49) entered Tuesday with a mere half-game lead over Philadelphia, a one-game lead over Arizona, Miami, and Milwaukee, and a 3.5-game lead over Chicago, putting six teams in the mix for three wild card spots.
That doesn’t mean that Pollock is feeling any extra pressure to produce for a Giants team that hit just .209 with a .632 OPS for an average of 3.32 runs per game in July – all marks that ranked last in MLB.
“I’m just kind of here to do my job and whatever role they want me in, I’m ready for it,” Pollock said. “I’m not going to put any pressure on (myself). You can talk to the front office about the other stuff. For me, it’s just getting to work, bringing what I bring to the ballclub, and show up every day ready to work.”
Both Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler said after Monday’s trade that they felt Pollock could benefit from a change of scenery after a tough four months with the Mariners. A career .273 hitter with a .792 OPS in 1,082 games before Tuesday, Pollock was carrying a .173 average and a .547 OPS in 127 at-bats this season for Seattle. He was starting to hit the ball a bit better before his injury, though, hitting .294 (5-for-17), with two runs and two RBI in July.
“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.
“So, I’m pretty confident that AJ is going to get the shot of adrenaline that he needs as a Giant because he’s going to need to be prepared to come in and play every single day if he not starting.”
Pollock said joining a playoff contender will provide a jolt.
“I had a little injury, but I feel like I’m running as good as I have, really since my Diamondback years,” said Pollock, who broke into MLB with Arizona in 2012 and remained with the club until 2018. “My arm feels great. Just feel like everything’s there. Obviously, the bat’s just a weird thing. I’d like to get some opportunities and really just see what I’ve got. I feel like everything’s still right there.”
Pollock already knows a handful of Giants, including pitchers Scott Alexander, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood, and outfielders Mitch Haniger and Joc Pederson.
Pollock and Pederson were teammates for two seasons in Los Angeles and won the World Series together with the Dodgers in 2020.
“A great teammate, one of my favorites,” Pederson said of Pollock. “I know he’s had a tough couple of years but the two or three years before that, he was one of the most productive players on the Dodgers with us. He had almost a .900 OPS (in 2020 and 2021), which is an all-star. He just hasn’t really found his groove yet.
“We just want to make him feel as comfortable as we can and if he can get back to form, I’d say (he’s) a golden nugget that I think is going to be a key piece to add to our depth and help us win ball games.”