In his first full season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, shortstop Corey Seager put together a campaign that was historically great. He was voted the unanimous National League Rookie of the Year winner, won a Silver Slugger Award and finished third for NL MVP.
Perhaps most remarkable of Seager’s rookie season was he essentially avoided any semblance of a prolonged slump. That was despite Seager lacking what he described as his ‘A swing.’
This season was very much a carryover from 2016. Seager batted .319/.411/549 through April. But the month of May, thus far at least, hasn’t yielded the same production.
Seager enters play Thursday hitting .232/.317/.357 with four doubles, one home run and four RBI in 15 games (14 starts).
The 22-year-old recently conceded he’s fought it a bit at the plate, per Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
“There’s been some times when you just don’t feel good,” he said. “I’ve had some low parts, already, that you hope to not have. It’s just been a constant battle to try to figure it out.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, noticing that Seager was laboring a bit, gave him a day off Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants, though the young shortstop did enter as a pinch-hitter.
Seager returned to the lineup Wednesday afternoon and went 2-for-4 with one walk. Overall this season, Seager is hitting .286/.376/.476 with six home runs, 21 RBIs and 27 runs scored.
One thing area where Seager has improved upon this season is his walk rate, as he has 21 walks in 170 plate appearances. He drew 54 walks in 687 plate appearances last season.
Back in March, an NL scout said he believed Seager would see some regression in 2017.
