San Francisco Giants release AJ Pollock

Sep 5, 2023, 9:23 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 01: AJ Pollock #16 of the San Francisco Giants at bat against th...

(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Following the returns of several players from the starting lineup, the San Francisco Giants needed to make a move to create roster space.

According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the Giants have released outfielder AJ Pollock in light of the returns of fellow right-handed outfielders Mitch Haniger and Mike Yastrzemski to the active roster.

Pollock, 35, had been rehabbing his strained oblique with AAA Sacramento. The veteran outfielder will now go through release waivers before becoming a free agent who can sign with any team.

Source: The Giants have decided to release outfielder AJ Pollock. He played for Triple-A Sacramento over the weekend on an injury rehab assignment. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) September 5, 2023

After being acquired in a trade deadline day deal with the Seattle Mariners, Pollock played in just five games for the Giants before suffering an oblique injury on August 8th when San Francisco was facing the Angels in Los Angeles.

Over five games with the Giants, Pollock did not pick up a hit over six at-bats while logging innings in all three outfield positions.

Pollock, an All-Star in 2015 while with the Arizona Diamondbacks, has struggled since the start of the 2022 season. Over the past two years with the Giants, Seattle Mariners, and Chicago White Sox, Pollock is batting .228 with 19 home runs, 71 RBI, and 130 strikeouts over 192 games.

With Pollock out of the picture, San Francisco is moving forward with Haniger, Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, Wade Meckler, Austin Slater, and Blake Sabol as its outfield core while players like Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos stand by in AAA Sacramento.