THURSDAY: Seager’s fine, according to manager Dave Roberts (via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). He’ll return to the Dodgers’ lineup Friday.
WEDNESDAY: Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager exited the team’s game against the Padres on Wednesday with left hamstring tightness, Alanna Rizzo of SportsNetLA reports. The Dodgers replaced Seager after the third inning with Enrique Hernandez.
The Dodgers say they pulled Seager as a precautionary measure, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. Still, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Dodgers fans to be nervous about his departure. After all, Seager missed a month from mid-June to mid-July on account of a left hamstring strain. LA fared well without Seager then, but there wasn’t nearly as much at stake at that point. Having since locked up the No. 1 seed in the National League, the Dodgers are a week from beginning the NLDS. They’d surely like to have a healthy Seager on hand when their first-round series opens.
Despite the time Seager has missed this year, he has bounced back nicely from an injury-limited 2018. After missing most of last season because of Tommy John surgery, the 25-year-old has returned to slash .274/.338/.481 with 18 home runs and 3.2 fWAR in 528 plate appearances.
Glass cannon
I don’t think I’ve ever said this on these forums but it has to be told this time: you are an idiot.
Sing it brother!
Can confirm. You have to say something egregious to get BlueSky to say that.
I must agree with you this time, Blue Sky.
Why? He’s not wrong. When isn’t this guy injured?
Idk, maybe 2016, when he played 157 games, or 2017, when he played 145 games?
Sure, he missed most of 2018 due to Tommy John surgery, but he recovered and has played 131 games in 2019, missing only the first few weeks as part of the TJS recovery.
And he’s not injured now, they merely removed him as a precaution.
So when isn’t this guy injured? 3 out of the 4 seasons he’s played the vast majority of the season. I can’t speak to the exact amount of games he missed for days off, but the Dodgers have both depth and a belief that even regulars rest every so often to keep them fresh all season, not to mention days off at the end of the season to rest for the postseason, having clinched or not.
Seager missed basically one year for Tommy John surgery, which he recovered from successfully. Beyond that, his injury history is pretty standard for a regular player.
He missed the 2017 NLCS and was diminished in the 2017 WS because of his elbow that began barking in September of 2017. He gets the injury prone rap because he tried to avoid surgery over the subsequent off season and it cost him 2018. But it’s been basically the same issue that’s no longer a problem.
I had a moment of total disgust there. The backup is appreciated but still, sorry about that.
On Seager, it’s been said but other than the Tommy John, his health history isn’t unusual for a position player. Hamstring injuries are probably the most common of all for position players. Little or nothing can be read into them, and as it turns out, even less with this one. They are treating him like the crown jewels, because he is, especially right now.
This may be semantics but he certainly has had some durability issues, especially for a younger guy. Hamstring is common in baseball due to the standing around and sudden acceleration nature but it does seem like it’s been difficult to get a full season out of Seager. His production has also dropped a bit at the plate too, as he’s putting up good numbers instead of very good to elite numbers. Still one of my favorite Dodgers though and always a class act.
His line over the last two weeks:
.425/.465/.725/1.190
Yes, glad that he has picked it up. Too small of a sample size though. But for the season he’s 0.274/0.338/0.481/0.819. His last two weeks has vaulted him to over 0.800 OPS but he’s still well below the 0.877 and 0.854 he put up in 2016 and 2017. Hope he can get back to 0.850+ level.
I have not looked at the month to month stats, but overall he’s been trending upward all year. He certainly wasn’t what Dodger fans expect after returning, but that was to be expected. The power has come back, and even before Seager started leaving the yard more, he’d been slashing doubles all over the field.
Anything this year is a bonus, given that he missed roughly an entire season of games due to the injury. I could be wrong, but I always held the TJS and the hip surgery came from the same problem, but I could be wrong on that. Or that because of one, the other surgery was undertaken rather than just rehabbed?
Either way, he’s still young, he’s clearly come back from those issues to be close to the same player, and is trending toward a return to a mid .800 OPS hitter at shortstop.
Point being, I’ve watched the vast majority of his MLB career, and I wouldn’t remotely categorize him as injury prone. If you are a casual observer, perhaps the Dodgers’ depth and thus their ability to take guys out for minor aches and pains (and certainly as a precaution) might lead to thinking someone like Seager is injury prone, I suppose. But they are managing assets for the long haul, just as they do in not trading near-ready prospects in a win-now trade. They have a plan for this team, and they stick to it. That includes taking opportunity of that depth to avoid turning a tight hamstring into an injury.
I don’t think anyone who watches the game closely expected Seager to pick up exactly where he left off before the injury. He missed a lot of playing time. Indeed he has trended up throughout the season. The hip surgery was unrelated to the elbow. The hip had bothered him for quite awhile and they decided to take care of that while he was rehabbing from TJ.
Man this sucks. This could be bad. I hope he can heal up before the first round of playoffs, he’s swinging a hot bat right now.
Just wondering but Is he injury prone?
He’s 25 and has had 2 significant surgeries, TJ and Hip. I doubt he’ll be durable into his 30’s. I’d move him now for significant assets and move Lux to SS.
It wouldn’t be the worst idea to test the market and find out what return the Dodgers could get for Seager. Obviously they’d want to keep him. Lux would cost a lot less, potentially cover Seager’s production and Seager still has youth and team control on his side. If the return for Seager in a trade makes you a better team with Lux as your starter, wouldn’t you consider it?
No this is ridiculous. Seager is a part of their core for years to come.
Then what are you doing with Lux? There has to be a plan to continue winning over the next 5 years while you still have Bellinger and Bueller. Core shmore, what’s the decision??
They are a year away from having to make a decision but one possible scenario is moving Seager to 3B when Turner’s contract is done and having Lux take over at short. Another is Lux at 2B. Note that neither scenario forces them to trade Seager to make room.
Seager’s not going to physically hold up, Turner has a year left and then Bellinger will move to first. They need to address two IF positions. He’s a VERY valuable asset and could yield a few very significant prospects. The Dodgers should at least look and see who’s available.
Seager is going to 3rd when JT’s contract is up after 2020 season. Lux takes SS. The Dodgers have stated many times that Bellinger is an outfielder and will be used at 1st only in an emergency. Dodgers don’t need prospects, they need Seager.
I’d package him to Boston for Betts in a heartbeat.
2B? There are plenty of shifting the Dodgers can do to make it work. Lux pretty much plays everyday now and its not an issue. The idea of trading Seager is downright comical.
For Betts? Hardly comical.
Adding Betts while subtracting Seager does nothing for the team. If they trade for Betts its not coming at the expense of a major piece. He is also 1.5 years younger, has more control and will not be demanding a 300+ million deal.
@Senioreditor: If it’s as obvious to everyone else as it seems to be to you that Seager is wrecked physically, then who is going to give up good material for him in trade? The teams are going have access to his actual medical reports, not just stuff somebody heard on the internet. Your argument seems to cancel itself out.
To be fair he did say package in him a deal..So, I’m assuming that he meant that the Dodgers will have to send more than Seager. I wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s damaged goods. But he does get banged up quite a bit. Let’s hope he’s well for the playoff run and can stay healthy for the entire 2020. That will help resolve some of the durability questions.
Mentioning Betts in the same breath with Seager is laughable. Betts is a top 5 player in baseball. The Dodgers can afford 300 million and he’s the type of player you spend it on. Seager is a very good player, Betts is HOF talent
They can afford them both and the Red Sox would want prospects, not a player whos going to need a new contract in 2 years. And Seager is a dam good offensive player stop acting like he is trash. At his peak he is a top 5 offensive player
At his peak he’s nowhere near a top 5 offensive player, that’s a ludicrous statement. His best season is a 5.9 WAR and that wasn’t in the top 10. Now Betts is a top 5 player maybe #2 and has been 5.9 WAR OR BETTER EVERY YEAR since his rookie season.
Oh and Seager’s a .214 lifetime postseason hitter.
Why would you use WAR to argue for offensive production… Also playoff batting avg? Yikes. This is all moot anyway since this is the real world, not your fantasy team. Star for star trades just dont happen. Bostons goal is to get top prospects aka save money
Ok no WAR or BA, what do you suggest? OPS+ 127, good but not great, OPS 854, good but not great, he’s a good player but certainly NOT top 5 by ANY metric. FYI Boston doesn’t just want prospects, they need good players they’re not rebuilding and need to replace 2-3 starters.
If the Dodgers offered Seager, May, Pederson and at least one prospect for Mookie Betts, you better believe the Red Sox entertain that package.
I don’t think Lux is good enough at SS from the fielding perspective, even with the strides he has made. Better off keeping him at 2B.
But a Lux to Seager combo is pretty awesome and you could always move Seager to 3B once Turner’s contract is up after 2020…I love me some JT but giving him a significant amount of money and years after this contract is up is not a wise decision
I’d like to see JT brought back on a one year in 2021, provided he puts up the standard JT season in 2020. Or perhaps a lower AAV 2 year deal, or even a second year team option.
I don’t know if that would get it done, but the Dodgers did show faith in him and pay him when JT repaid them with results. He’s also an LA guy, and seems to be entrenched in the culture.