A.J. Pollock

[Chisoxfn]

With the draft quickly approaching and all the talk about the White Sox scouting young outfielders, I wanted to throw out a name of a guy that projects to go towards the later first round (potentially in the supplemental rounds), AJ Pollack. He's a junior who plays CF at Notre Dame and is supposed to have good tools across the board, maybe not plus tools, but good tools. He's fast, plays above average defense (very fluid fielders) and has a good eye and a line drive swing. Scouts compare him a bit to a slower version of Jacoby Ellsbury (better bat, a step slower).

 

Baseball America had a nice write-up on him and the draft is getting closer. I still have my preference of getting a good pitcher, but I wouldn't have a major issue with grabbing a guy like Pollack with one of our early picks.

 

Pollock has been an impact player since the day he arrived at Notre Dame from Hebron, Conn. A three-year starter—first at third base, then at center field—Pollock really made a name for himself last summer in the Cape Cod League, earning the league's MVP award and ranking as its No. 7 prospect. Major league scouting directors voted him onto the preseason All-America first team heading into this spring, and he has put together a strong season, batting .354/.441/.545 with six homers, 37 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 20 attempts. He's a likely first-round pick in June thanks to a solid all-around toolset that includes above-average speed and a pure line-drive stroke.

 

 

A.J. Pollock

You've got a big series coming up this weekend against South Florida. What do you know about those guys, and what are your expectations coming into this weekend?

 

Last year we played them very closely. They swept us, I think we went to extra innings every game or two out of three games. It's going to be a very evenly matched game, and we definitely have to step up for sure. Our backs are a little up against the ropes right now. They've got a great team—great hitting, great balance, their pitching has done well. I think we're just itching to get back out there and play after exams.

 

Do you like where the team is at right now? It seems like you've had some high moments, like winning a series against a good Louisville team two weeks ago, and some tough losses, like last weekend against Connecticut. Why do you think this team has had so many ups and downs?

 

We've had stretches where we could beat anybody in the country. We took two out of three from Louisville, West Virginia. I think sometimes we just play down a bit to the competition. We're in a tough spot now because we're in the middle of the pack trying to fight for the tournament, and most of our losses have come against the teams in the lower part of our division. We're not treating these teams like UConn any lightly. It's really hard to explain. I think we just need to get the job done when it gets to the seventh, eighth innings.

 

Individually, are you pleased with the season you've had so far?

 

I feel good. You have those games where you feel locked in, maybe you go 0-for-3 but hit the ball well. I'm to a point where I feel like I can get rid of any statistical stuff and feel good regardless. Sometimes you can do everything right and not get it done. Personally, these next couple weeks, I really want to finish out the year well. The last couple years, I've had a little bit of a disappointing end of the year, and our team has done the same. I'm going to do all I can to really focus on getting some wins for this team.

 

You arrived at Notre Dame as an infielder, but now you've become one of the best center fielders in the nation. Do you like playing the outfield?

 

I love it now. At first it was tough, because I jumped right into the mix in center field, and we were already trying to win games, there was no time to get comfortable out there. Right now I love it. It's a lot less intense than the infield. I played short in high school, then they moved me to third base—and that was just a rollercoaster, it's ridiculous. You get to stretch out your legs a little in the outfield, go after some balls. I've played shortstop and infield my whole life, so it was more like an ego thing, letting it go. As a freshman and sophomore, you just try to find your way in the lineup. I'm happy they let me play in the middle of the field instead of right or left. I like to be in the middle, be a quarterback in the outfield.

 

Interesting that you should say that you like to be a sort of quarterback out there, because scouts who have watched you over the last few years say that you're a very vocal player with a real leadership presence on the field. Is that a big part of your identity as a player?

 

Maybe not the rah-rah kind of stuff, but I definitely like talking to players and understanding what's going through their heads. The outfield is so much communication. Third base is take any ball you can, that's what they told me—that's pretty simple. In the outfield, you're moving around the left fielder and the right fielder, make sure they know exactly what you're doing on an in-between ball. I love the game of baseball so much, I love having fun and talking first of all.

 

Besides just moving to the outfield, how else do you think you've developed as a player since you arrived at Notre Dame?

 

I think the first and primary thing would be the mental part of the game. My skills have been pretty similar; I've improved little mechanical stuff in my swing here and there. But playing baseball at the college level, you're going to get weeded out if you don't make the adjustments. You really get to understand that as you get to be a sophomore, junior and senior. You know what kind of pitches you're going to get in certain situations. Instead of hitting down in the order, you're hitting three now, so you have to understand what kind of attention you're going to get from the other pitcher. If you're going to have to make that leap to be a better player, you're going to have to watch the pitcher; I'm thinking the game a lot more. That's a big difference for me.

 

I know you played soccer a bit in high school, and your dad was a rugby player at Boston College, but was baseball always No. 1 for you growing up?

 

Everybody plays like six sports when they're a kid, but it was always baseball, no question. Coming to school at Notre Dame, a tough academic school, I wanted to make sure baseball was a big priority here. I remember as far back as tee ball, it was competitive there. I've always taken baseball as my first priority as an athlete.

 

So I need to ask you about your budding career as a film producer. You and (Irish junior righthander) Eric Maust make movies?

 

Our freshman year, we do freshman skits, it's a traditional thing. Our freshman year, we didn't do them for some reason, so our team started blaming us for a sub-par season. So the next year me and Eric Maust took it into our own hands and made a movie. We've been doing it for the last couple years, it's been great. Next year we're going to re-make popular movies, like "Be Kind, Rewind," with Jack Black. I hope the guys on the team like it. And if they don't, I don't really care!

 

Which was your best movie?

 

We've only made two so far. The first one was, 'We want to make a movie, just throw it all together.' The second one we used more editing techniques. That was an hour-long movie—I probably put more time into that this semester than my schoolwork. You get to make fun of anybody in those movies; anybody is fair game.

 

And you also play the guitar, right?

 

Yeah, and next year living in the senior house we'll have a band. We play classic rock, alternative, a lot of guys are from California, so a little bit of that kind of stuff. I wouldn't exactly call us an organized band yet, but we mess around. (Junior first baseman) Casey Martin is the ringleader, just because he's got all the instruments—harmonica, banjoes, you name it. And (junior outfielder) Brandon Ashdown plays too.

 

You're planning to live in a house with other seniors next year? What about the draft?

 

Most of the guys who go to Notre Dame, regardless if they're drafted or not, they'll come back for the fall semester. If you come to Notre Dame, you want to get your degree eventually. The draft and making it to the big leagues has always been a dream of mine. I am excited for that, but I'm doing everything I can to put that on hold for at least a couple weeks, and really finish the season off right.

[BearSox]

I like him and I think he could be a fast riser, and we could use some more OF depth in the system. At the very least, I think he could be a very solid 4th OF.

 

I've heard anywhere from late first to early 3rd. I wouldn't want him with our first pick, but in the supplemental round out with one of 2nd rounders, I got no problem.

[Chisoxfn]

Viciedo, Shelby, and Danks are three major league caliber outfield prospects. On top of that you have Quentin at the big league level and potentially Ramirez. That is a lot of depth, but knowing that a lot of guys fail and that in general you can never have too many athletes (and CFer's tend to be phenomenal athletes) I like the idea of taking Pollocks or a guy like him.

 

I also have long said I am a fan of drafting shortstops like crazy because they can always move to 2B or CF and are phenomenal athletes. When it comes to pitchers, I believe you draft power arms too non-stop.

 

I think the Sox should target pitching prospects heavily though.

[BearSox]

Another OF I really like is Aaron Miller from Baylor. Here is a draft report on him:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/...content=amiller

 

He sounds like a perfect money ball player, but with our new approach to bringing in more patient hitters, this is probably the type of hitter we'd like to bring in. The only thing that scares me is how they say he becomes to passive at times, but that can be corrected, plus I really like his swing. From the little I have seen of him and what I have read about him, he sounds very similar to Andre Ethier, and I heart Ethier.