D-backs’ Hall: Pollock will ‘be back sooner than we thought’

The Arizona Diamondbacks were dealt a major blow when A.J. Pollock fractured his elbow late in Spring Training.

D-backs president Derrick Hall spoke with Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday and was optimistic about Pollock’s status this year.

“He is doing great. The last time we talked about it, he told me he feels ready to go,” Hall said. “I think he’s going to be back sooner than we thought or hoped. This kid is going to be playing baseball soon and it’s not going to take him long to get back up to our level.”

Hall continued, “there’s no timetable yet. We were worried that maybe he starts baseball activity in September and mostly at the minor league level in rehab. I think there’s a chance he plays at the Major League level before the end of the season.”

Pollock had a career year in 2015. He had a .315 batting average, hit 20 home runs, knocked in 76 RBI and stole 39 bases. He was also an All-Star for the National League.

Regarding a player who has returned to action, Shelby Miller was activated from the disabled list on Monday and faced the Philadelphia Phillies.

Miller went 6.2 innings and allowed a season-low one earned run, while striking out five batters. The outing lowered his ERA on the year from 7.09 to 6.36.

Hall was happy with Miller’s performance and said, “it was a big sigh of relief. He was good… He looked like himself, he felt great. We got on the plane afterwards in Philadelphia and he had a smile from ear to ear… He’s fixed mechanically what was causing him problems and you can see that the confidence is back.”

Miller will pitch the third game of the four-game series against the Colorado Rockies. He is 0-1 with a 9.39 ERA in two career starts at Coors Field.

While Miller has returned to the mound, another D-backs starting pitcher is still on the mend. Rubby De La Rosa was placed on the disabled list on May 26 with a sprained UCL and is still a bit away from a rehab assignment.

“He’s still resting, that’s a good sign. All the experts and second opinions didn’t think that he needed any surgery,” Hall said. “He’s going to have to go through a full rehab after that. Get his pitch count back and innings back up. He’s going to have to face competition for a couple weeks for a couple weeks before getting back to it.”

Before landing on the disabled list, De La Rosa was 4-5 with a 4.15 ERA.