Infielder/outfielder A.J. Pollock is a junior at Notre Dame. And after Tuesday, he'll likely be on his way to being more than just a college student. Pollock is thought to be one of the top prospects in this week's MLB Draft, with the Baltimore Sun having him going as high as No. 17 overall. Insights caught up with Pollock in an airport as he was flying back to Connecticut to watch the draft tomorrow with family and friends. While he waited to board, he chatted about the process, his future and how he grew up a New York Mets fan.

Irish Insights: Going into tomorrow, what's your mindset with everything? What are you feeling? What are your emotions like?

A.J. POLLOCK: "Well, I just did a bunch of workouts so right now I feel great that I get to just sit back and relax. I'm going to have some fun with it. There's no way you can go into this thing and stress out because everything that's going to happen is out of your hands. We'll see. I'll be here, have a couple good friends and some family and have fun with it."

II: It's not on a major network or anything, but are you going to be following it on TV? On the Internet?

AP: "Yeah, I definitely want to see, I played ball with a bunch of the guys who are going to be drafted, too, so it's going to be fun to watch where they go. I'm going to order MLB Network and I'm actually going to watch it."

II: Every projection I've seen has you pretty high, late first round, sandwich first-round pick. When did you realize you might be a first-round guy?

AP: "That's a good question. I kind of just let it fall into place. I just kept playing ball and in my mind I could play with anyone in the country. If you're going to be successful, that's how you've got to be. In my mind, I've always been a first round pick but the first time I was like 'Whoa, this could actually be the case' was after the Cape. During the Notre Dame season, I pushed it all aside and it was fun concentrating on winning games, especially, you know, when we are winning games at the end of the season for a change. That was kind of cool. But I'd say after the Cape."

II: How much did playing in the Cape Cod League change the way you approached things and looked at your future?

AP: "I think so because a lot of people know about the Cape and so you kind of have to change a little bit because your opponents are going to change a little bit. There's going to be a little more scouting report, a little more focus on you, even if you're slumping a little bit, you're still going to get a lot of focus. It didn't really change my approach to the game but people are going to try to pick apart my swing and get a good scouting report on me."

II: Going through all these workouts, what type of feeling do you get? Do you think you know where you'll be drafted? Do you have no clue?

AP: "I think it's kind of cool because I get to know some of the people but a feeling of where I'm going to get drafted, I still have the feeling of I'm not really going to know. I know, in general, who is interested in me but I'm not going to have a good idea of what team is really taking me and they don't want to come out and say that, either, because then I might go and tell another team and someone else might pick me before them and it just doesn't work like that. I'm going to go in with an open mind. The thing I drew out of all the workouts was it was a great experience playing at some major league ballparks and that is where I want to be in the next couple of years and I'm going to do everything I can to get there."

II: What's the coolest park you think you've been to?

AP: "I went on four trips. They are all unbelievable. They were so different. Arizona, with the retractable roof there, Arizona and Safeco in Seattle were pretty similar because they had the retractable roof and newer style stadium and I guess the same thing with the Nationals, but, I really, really enjoyed St. Louis' stadium, Busch Stadium."

II: Why there?

AP: "For me, I'm a big Fenway and Wrigley fan. I like the old-style feel to it and the fans are really into it. They pretty much sell out every game and the feel, the stadium felt like there was a lot of tradition there. Even though it's only two years old, they made it in a way where it didn't look like a new stadium. It looked like a very old school type atmosphere."

II: Following on that, you mentioned Fenway and Wrigley. I'm guessing growing up in Connecticut, you were either a Red Sox fan or Yankee fan?

AP: "I actually grew up a Mets fan, which is kind of funny because most people in Connecticut are split between Red Sox and Yankees, but I was a Mets fan."

II: You didn't get to go to CitiField at all, did you?

AP: "I didn't get a chance to, no. The workouts are designed in a way where my advisors are telling me where I fit in in the draft and what teams have a bunch of picks that would be right in my alley. Those are the ones that felt right and were in good, strategic locations in the draft. That's why I went there. The Mets, it wasn't the right spot in the draft to devote a whole workout."

II: If they drafted you, what would your reaction be?

AP: "I'd be pretty thrilled, you know. It would be unexpected. They don't pick until about 36 and I'm not going to get too greedy but what I'm hearing is that I'm going to get picked up before that. But if I do fall to there and they want to pick me, it would be kind of cool to play for a team I always rooted for."

II: You know what you're going to do tomorrow but you have any idea what your emotions are going to be when you see your name go across the screen and hear it called?

AP: "No idea. I'll tell you tomorrow. I just don't have, I already had a lot of emotions going through the workouts and them now being over, right now I'm just thrilled I'm going home."

II: You're a junior. You're definitely going (pro)?

AP: "Yeah, I'm pretty set on getting to the next level assuming it's a good fit and everything's fair, I would be going, yeah."

II: When you grew up, at what point did you think you might be a major league player?

AP: "When I started picking up the bat when I was three years old. It's just, you play baseball and it's one of those things you're constantly thinking about unless you're one of those people where it's a secondary thing to them. It's something you're always dreaming about and it's pretty cool that it is right here in front of me."

II: Kids always pretend to be baseball players when they are growing up. I pretended to be Darryl Strawberry. Was there a guy you pretended to be?

AP: "It usually changed day by day. I was a very fair-weather fan. If someone hit the home run, I jumped on that bandwagon a little bit but usually Mets guys. Big Mike Piazza fan. When I played shortstop, Rey Ordonez was my boy. Didn't hit too much but the guy could field."

II: Now that you've gone through all the workouts, what do you feel you bring to a club that maybe other people don't?

AP: "Um, what do I bring to the field? That's a good question. A passion for the game. Other than my tools, it's a passion for the game and I feel like I go out there and play hard every day. Sometimes you're flipping on the TV and watching major league players not giving it their all every day in the outfield or kind of laying up for the ball. You say there are 162 games, but, I'm set on going 100 percent through all 162."

II: Like you said, you are set on going. Have you talked to guys about what it's like in the minors?

AP: "I've already talked to guys about as soon as I get drafted because that's a whole other process. It's kind of like, it's a step. Once I get drafted and know where I am and get settled, I'm definitely going to be calling Kyle Weiland. They've been successful and they are fresh and new with the whole minor league system."