D-Backs are still waiting for Pollock to heal
ANAHEIM, Calif. – The weekly test on A.J. Pollock’s fractured thumb revealed further healing, manager Torey Lovullo said, but not enough to allow the injured Diamondbacks center fielder to begin swinging a bat.
As such, it continues to look like Pollock will be returning closer to the back end of the four-to-eight week recovery timeline the club estimated shortly after he was injured diving for a ball on May 14.
“We were hopeful at that time that something miraculous could happen and he would heal faster than the normal human being,” Lovullo said. “But that was obviously a stretch. I know we’re into our fifth week right now, so I know it’s as predicted, as we thought it would fall into place as far as that bone healing. It still hasn’t healed completely, but it’s showing signs of getting there.”
Pollock will undergo another CT scan next Monday, Lovullo said.
Pollock was off to one of the best starts of any player in the National League when he was hurt last month. He was hitting .293 with 11 homers and a .969 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging). He won National League Player of the Month honors for the first month of the season and picked up Player of the Week honors for the first week in May.
Meanwhile, right fielder Steven Souza Jr. underwent tests of his own that brought back similarly middling results. His right pectoral strain continued to make progress, Lovullo said, and while he’s hitting and playing catch he has not yet been cleared to ramp up the intensity to where he’d need it in order to play in games.
Lovullo said Souza threw and hit at Salt River Fields on Monday while Pollock did more range-of-motion work.
Miller update
Lovullo said right-hander Shelby Miller will throw his between-starts bullpen session on Tuesday but gave no hints as to what would come next for him.
Miller, who is nearing a return from Tommy John surgery, is coming off his best outing yet on the rehab trail. Pitching on Saturday for High-A Visalia, Miller tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, walking none and striking out 10 on 80 pitches.
The Diamondbacks have yet to officially name any starters for the upcoming series in Pittsburgh, and it stands to reason Miller could return from the disabled list to face the Pirates.
Saying hello
Reliever Yoshihisa Hirano found time before Monday’s game to catch up with Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani in the hallway between the home and visitors’ clubhouses at Angel Stadium.
Hirano said the two aren’t particularly close, but he’s known him for at least five years and wanted to say hello.
Before landing on the disabled list with an elbow injury, Ohtani was having success both as a pitcher (3.10 ERA in 49 1/3 innings) and hitter (.289 average, .907 OPS).
“He was a really good player in Japan and I had really high hopes for him coming in here,” Hirano said through interpreter Kelvin Kondo. “Unfortunately, he got hurt, but he did some really good things. If it wasn’t for the injuries, he could be doing more of those things that I wanted to see.’’