PHOENIX -- D-backs outfielder A.J. Pollock saw his first game action since fracturing his elbow three days before the start of the season.
Pollock went 1-for-4 as the designated hitter for the D-backs team in the rookie Arizona League on Friday night against the Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. It will probably be until the middle of next week before he plays in the field.
When he first suffered the injury it looked like Pollock would miss the entire 2016 season, but his rehab has gone so well that D-backs manager Chip Hale said he could be able to return before Sept. 1.
"It's miraculous and it's unbelievable what the doctors have done," Hale said. "If you look at the bone now and the bone growth that's happened since surgery, it's incredible what they've done."
After Pollock first fractured his elbow in Spring Training of '10, a screw was inserted. At some point the screw broke, meaning it was just a matter of time before the elbow gave way again. No one knows exactly when the screw broke, but Pollock has dealt with arm soreness at times the past few years.
"To hear him talk now in there, in the weight room, doing different weightlifting exercises, doing different swings, he's doing things now that he had just quit doing because he figured they were making his arm sore," Hale said. "He never knew it was his elbow."