Here I was, all set to write about how hope was a good thing and on this day, every single Major League Baseball team and fanbase had a glorious amount of hope in front of the 2016 season. I was gonna quote The Shawshank Redemption for the billionth time and everything.
And then one team and fanbase and dealt a crushing blow with A.J. Pollock's fractured elbow. The Diamondbacks have only offered up an "indefinite" timetable as to a possible return, but Pollock needs surgery and elbows are, you know, kind of important in baseball. The hunch is he's done for either all or nearly all of this season.
To fans outside the NL West who are more the casual variety and don't pay much attention to Fantasy baseball, Pollock is criminally underrated. Here's a list of the position players in baseball who had a higher Fangraphs WAR last season:
Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Josh Donaldson, Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, Manny Machado and Yoenis Cespedes. Lorenzo Cain was tied with Pollock.
In the Baseball Reference version of the stat, only Harper, Trout, Donaldson, Goldschmidt and Votto rated out higher than Pollock.
But you hate WAR, right? Because real baseball fans can't even understand it and it's stupid and made up!
OK, Pollock was fifth in the NL in batting average (.315), second in runs (111), second in hits (192), fifth in total bases, fourth in doubles (39), eighth in triples (six) and fourth in stolen bases (39), and he also hit 20 homers with a .367 on-base percentage.
Basically, he's good at everything offensively. How about defensively? Advanced metrics love him. Only Kevin Kiermaier -- probably the best overall defender in baseball last season -- and Cain rated out higher in Defensive Runs Saved. I know, I know, watch the games!
How about this?
Pollock also won a Gold Glove, as voted on by NL managers.
So let's see. He hits for average and power, runs well, has great range and with five outfield assists last season, the arm isn't lacking. That's a five-tool superstar.
And the Diamondbacks lost him for most or all of the season a few days before the season starts.
This especially hurts under the specific circumstances in Arizona. Coming off a season in which the D-Backs were among the best offensive and defensive teams in baseball, only to have bad pitching, they had added Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller. Patrick Corbin is set for a full season after coming back from Tommy John surgery in 2015.
Though not a favorite, they had the look of a contender. Now one of their three indispensable players is gone. That means that, yes, this injury impacts the entire National League.
Not only that, but speaking of the Miller acquisition, the Diamondbacks last year had a suitable replacement for Pollock in Ender Inciarte. Sure, he's not as good, but he's coming off a very productive season. He was shipped to Atlanta in the Miller deal.
The replacement for Pollock could be Socrates Brito, who has all of 34 career MLB plate appearances. He spent most of last season in Double-A and has never even played in Triple-A. The good news is the 23-year-old hit well last year (.300/.339/.451), but that was in Double-A and, again, he's trying to replace a five-tool star.
The other option? Word from D-Backs camp is that Chris Owings is trying to learn center field on the fly. He hit .227/.264/.322 (58 OPS+) last season and has nine innings of professional experience in the outfield -- in left field in 2011 in Class A-Advanced.
So on a day when we should be talking about hope, we're instead talking about despair in Arizona.
Though it's insignificant in the face of actual everyday tragedy, it's relatively sad from our sports world -- entertainment, or an "escape" -- that this went down, especially when it went down.
So, yes, we're feeling for you, D-Backs Nation. That's gotta be a tough pill to swallow. Just remember, though, you're still allowed to hope. The Royals lost Alex Gordon for a third of the season last year and won the World Series. The Cardinals won 100 games with Adam Wainwright making only four starts and Matt Holliday missing most of the season.
Hope. It's a good thing. Still. Just ask Andy and Red.
