Pollock, D-backs were aware a second fracture was possible
PHOENIX -- The day after he fractured his right elbow for the second time in six years, Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock intimated the elbow was less than full strength this spring.
Dr. Don Sheridan, the team's hand and arm specialist, on Saturday revealed that was the case and why.
Pollock had a broken screw, from the first surgery, in his elbow. That was found on an X-ray early in spring training, Sheridan told reporters. It was only a matter of time before Pollock suffered another fracture.
#Dbacks fans will be happy to know screw in this contraption usedfor @Dbacks Pollock's elbow is the "home run" screw pic.twitter.com/qt7fnrviR3
— Kate Longworth (@KateLongworth) April 9, 2016
That happened three days before the regular season and Pollock is questionable to return this year after Sheridan performed a three-hour surgery Tuesday, when a new plate was placed in Pollock's elbow and when bone plugs were placed to stimulate healing.
"If everything goes extremely well it's going to be at least three months before A.J. is going to be released to start baseball activities," Sheridan said. "It could be the entire season, but I'm very hopeful and look forward to the day that we see A.J. run out of the dugout and take his position and have a good playoffs this year."
That was the closest Sheridan offered as far as a timetable. When Pollock had the surgery for the first time in 2010 he missed the whole season and returned to play in the Arizona Fall League.
"Although this is a very complex problem, I am very optimistic about his return," Sheridan said. "We've pulled out all the stops. I can't think of anything that we're not doing. The only bit of pessimism in the whole thing is we're trying to get a bone to heal that has not been healed together for some time. That's why we're taking this so seriously and doing everything we can."
That also is in part why the parties elected to avoid surgery when soreness first cropped up early in spring training.
"I almost thought it was a joke we were doing an X-ray. I never thought this was a major thing," Pollock told reporters. "That was kind of a shock to me. I didn't feel anything. "We talked about if something were to happen this is what we would do. But the plan was just to play it out and you're probably not going to have to worry about it and then first game back. ... I was confident I was going to be able to play with it and it was going to be a non-issue."
