Nick Piecoro

azcentral sports

A.J. Pollock was tracking fly balls during batting practice on Saturday. A day earlier, he was playing catch from distances up to 60 feet, and he’s already begun hitting off a tee.

“It’s coming,” Pollock said.

Pollock seems to be progressing well following surgery in April to repair a fractured elbow, and the Diamondbacks center fielder remains confident he’ll get back on the field before the end of the year.

“It feels really good, like I can be going more aggressive,” Pollock said. “But these guys (training/medical staff) are trying to be right in the middle of aggressive and conservative.”

BOX SCORE: D-Backs 2, Dodgers 1 (12)

RELATED: Pollock starts to throw again

Pollock initially fractured a growth plate in his elbow and needed surgery in 2010, but he said he’s only recently realized, as his elbow has grown stronger, how bad of shape it’s been in during recent years.

“It makes me think about the past,” Pollock said. “I stayed away from a couple of things and I thought that was part of having a screw in your elbow. But I’ve realized it probably wasn’t right for a long time.”

MORE: Corbin's woes just as surprising as Miller's

Pollock said his progress has looked “ridiculously good” following CT scans on the elbow.

“With these types of injuries, I’ve done research in the past and for some reason you don’t always see bone-to-bone healing,” he said. “Maybe you see a little bit, but usually you have kind of fibers that bridge the gap. They don’t expect 100 percent bone-to-bone healing, but if you can get 50, 60 percent … but I’m way past that. I’m up in the 80s or 90s.”

MORE: La Russa makes 'yucky' comment about P Miller

Pollock doesn’t like spelling out timetables, but it’s clear he still has a ways to go. He still has to build up his throwing to longer distances, and he has to progress from hitting off a tee to taking flips to regular batting practice to facing live pitching. And once he’s ready to play in games, he’ll probably need two or three weeks of regular at-bats.

While the Diamondbacks have no incentive to rush Pollock back given that they’re out of the race, Pollock sees no reason not to play if he’s ready.

“It’s not my call, obviously, but I play baseball,” he said. “If something is ready to go, for me, there’s no sense in not playing just to not play.

“I want to be out there with these guys, too. It’s been frustrating. I’m sure these guys are extremely frustrated with how things have been going. But there are a lot of positives we can take in the second half of the year. If I can be out there and help us out, I think that would be a pretty big boost.”

RELATED: The National League's 'Big Four': Who's the favorite?

Short hops

The club had hoped right-hander Zack Greinke might be ready to return from the disabled list by the time the club needed a fifth starter on July 26 in Milwaukee. But manager Chip Hale said that’s no longer looking realistic. “He says his arm feels great, but he still feels a little bit in there when he does play catch, so they haven’t really stepped on the gas pedal,” Hale said. “I think every day that he is not able to really play catch without any tightness, probably it’s going to be tough to get him ready for (Milwaukee).”

Catcher/outfielder Chris Herrmann was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday on his bothersome hamstring, but Hale said he did not have results when he met with reporters early in the afternoon. Hale acknowledged it might be difficult for Herrmann to avoid a disabled-list stint.

Sunday’s game

Dodgers at Diamondbacks

When: 1:10 p.m.

Where: Chase Field (Roof hotline: 602-462-6262).

Pitchers: Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (4-8, 4.81) vs. Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (8-6, 2.95).

TV/Radio: FSAZ, FSAZ+/KMVP-FM (98.7), KSUN-AM (1400).

Ray has gone four consecutive outings without a quality start. Most recently, he gave up three runs in five innings against the Giants in San Francisco. … Ray hasn’t faced the Dodgers since his second start of the season, when he gave up just two runs in 6 1/3 innings despite issuing five walks. … Maeda is coming off his most dominant start of the year, in which he gave up just one run on two hits, walking none and striking out 13, in seven innings against the Padres. … He has a 2.61 ERA in his past nine starts. … He has faced the Diamondbacks twice this season, giving up two runs in 11 1/3 innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

Coming up

Monday: Off.

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m. Diamondbacks RHP Zack Godley (2-0, 5.28) vs. Blue Jays RHP Aaron Sanchez (9-1, 2.97).

Wednesday: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m. Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (4-8, 5.25) vs. Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (7-4, 5.15).

Thursday: Off.

Friday: At Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Archie Bradley (3-5, 4.64)* vs. Reds TBA.

* -- Entering Saturday.

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.