A.J. Pollock, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cody Bellinger is rightfully at the forefront of the National League MVP race on a Dodgers team that is clearly the class of the Senior Circuit. Los Angeles brought A.J. Pollock into the fold over the winter to help stabilize its outfield and lineup. Between injury and underperformance, the first half didn’t go so well for him, but he’s making up for lost time so far in the second half.
Pollock’s first 115 plate appearances as a Dodger resulted in a .223/.287/.330 triple slash and 60 wRC+. His next 75 (entering Wednesday’s game) has led to a .313/.373/.627 line and a 158 wRC+. The outfielder’s batted-ball profile has gone through some changes between these two time periods, but it’s not so drastic that one would think he made a big adjustment in that sense.
What has gone through a significant change, though, is Pollock’s BABIP. Before hitting the injured list at the end of April, his BABIP stood at .263. Since returning right after the All-Star break, it’s up at .326. Seeing a rise in his pull rate (40.2% to 53.9%) to go along with a decrease in infield flies (10.3% to 5.6%) and approximately a three-percentage-point rise in hard contact has all made this possible.
This hasn’t been an ideal year for the 31-year-old, but it looks like he’s just fine-tuning for October at this point.
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