AJ Pollock has a way of making things look easy in the outfield.
The former Vermont Mountaineers standout established himself as one of the best defensive players in the game during his first full MLB season with the Arizona Diamondback. Pollock was recognized for his efforts on Tuesday with the news that he was named a Gold Glove winner as the top center fielder in the National League.
Eight years removed from his time spent gracing the outfield at the Montpelier Recreation Field, Pollock rebounded from a season-ending injury in 2014 after playing in just 75 games. This past season he played in all but five games for the Diamondbacks, earning National League All-Star honors in a wildly successful year.
“He played the outfield for us and covered a lot of ground and got great reads on the ball off the bat,” Mountaineers general manager Brian Gallagher said. “It’s been great to follow his career as he’s done well at every level. He just keeps improving each year and works really hard.”
Pollock recorded a .315 batting average, a .367 on-base percentage and a .498 slugging percentage with 20 home runs and 39 stolen bases. But he had an even bigger impact on the other side of the ball, helping the Diamondbacks finish as the top defensive team in the major leagues. And Pollock was an anchor alongside fellow Gold Glove winner Paul Goldschmidt.
Pollock led all NL center fielders with 14 defensive runs saved, using a metric that rates individual players above or below average — with average being 0. Pollock also finished third in UZR, or ultimate zone rating, which is one of the most widely used defensive statistics as it attempts to quantify how many runs a player saved or gave up through their defensive prowess.
Winning this award was a big step for Pollock, who emerged as one of the game’s young stars at the age of 27. Many bloggers have jumped on the Pollock hype train, with headlines ranging from “AJ Pollock is absolutely a star player” to “The enigmatic superstar AJ Pollock.”
For Pollock, it is clearly a big honor.
“I’m out there trying to play good defense to help the team win,” Pollock told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro. “It’s pretty unique now getting recognition for doing it. You always hear, ‘Gold Glove center fielder’ or ‘Gold Glove second baseman’ — to be able to have that in front of my name is pretty special.”
Pollock edged out 2012 Gold Glove winner Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds speedster Billy Hamilton. Gold Glove winners are selected by a vote of MLB managers and coaches (75 percent), as well as a statistical equivalent that ranks defenders called the SABR Defensive Index (25 percent).
Pollock became the first former Mountaineers player to win the elite defensive award.
“He was a key player on our 2007 championship team and really was a good team leader even as a freshman,” Gallagher said. “He is as good of a person as he is a baseball player, and he’s kept in touch with us and his host family.”
Pollock has accumulated many awards since his time with Vermont. In the Diamondbacks system, Pollock was an organizational All-Star in back-to-back years, was an All-Star in Double-A Mobile and has been named the National League Player of the Week three times.
