Corey Seager Biography & Los Angeles Dodgers Career
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager rounds the bases after hitting a home run
Mark Brown-Getty Images

Corey Seager was born on April 27, 1994, in Charlotte, North Carolina. His parents, Jeff and Jody, had three sons, all of which were drafted into Major League Baseball.

The oldest son, Kyle, has spent his entire nine-year Major League career with the Seattle Mariners, and the middle son, Justin, was a 12th round pick in 2013.

Corey was perhaps the most talented athlete of the bunch growing up though. He attended Northwest Cabarrus High School in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and eventually committed to play his college ball at South Carolina.

Before he got the chance to do that though, the Dodgers drafted him in the first round (18th overall) in 2012 and Seager signed for $2.35 million instead of going to college.

Minor League career

Unlike most draftees who start in the Arizona Rookie League, Seager began his professional career with the Dodgers’ rookie-level affiliate Ogden Raptors in 2012. He played 46 games in his first professional season, hitting an impressive .309/.383/.520 with eight home runs and 33 RBI.

That earned him a promotion to Low-A Great Lakes to start the 2013 season, and he continued to swing the bat at a high level. After slashing .309/.389/.529 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI in 74 games, he was promoted to High-A Rancho Cucamonga to finish out the season.

He struggled for the first time in his career there though, posting a .160/.246/.320 slashline in 27 games to finish out the season.

Seager was as talented of a Minor League player as anyone though, so that was really the only time he struggled coming up. He had a monster 2014 season between Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Chattanooga, hitting a combined .349/.402/.602 with 20 home runs and 97 RBI in 118 games.

He then split time between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2015, again producing at a high level by hitting .293/.344/.487 with 18 home runs and 76 RBI in 125 RBI before earning himself a callup to the big leagues for the first time in his career in September.

Dodgers career

Seager made his MLB debut against the San Diego Padres on Sept. 3, 2015, at Petco Park, going 2-for-4 with a double and pair of RBI. He continued to swing the bat at a high level, hitting .337/.425/.561 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 27 games to close out the regular season.

That production allowed him to make the postseason roster and overtake Jimmy Rollins as the team’s starting shortstop, although he hit just .188/.235/.250 in five games in his first taste of October action.

Seager retained his rookie status into the 2016 season and eventually was named the National League Rookie of the Year, taking home the award unanimously after another outstanding season.

In 157 games in 2016, Seager hit .308/.365/.512 with 40 doubles, 26 home runs, 105 runs scored and 72 RBI, also finishing third in the NL MVP voting.

He followed that up with his second All-Star season in 2017 in which he hit .295/.375/.479 with 22 home runs and 77 RBI. He dealt with a back injury late in the year that forced him to be left off the Dodgers’ NL Championship Series roster against the Chicago Cubs.

His teammates took care of business and Seager returned for the World Series, where he hit a memorable opposite-field home run off Houston Astros starter Justin Verlander in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.

In addition to a back injury, Seager also dealt with some elbow issues that season that forced him to spend the offseason rehabbing. The hope was that he would be able to avoid surgery, but after just 26 games in the 2018 season, Seager was forced to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery.

While he was recovering from the elbow surgery, Seager also underwent surgery on his hip, making his task to get back even tougher.

By the time the 2019 season rolled around, Seager was back on the field and starting at shortstop for the Dodgers. He homered on Opening Day, but otherwise struggled for much of the month of April, which can be expected for a player coming off two major surgeries.

Seager eventually regained his pre-injury form, and despite missing a month with a hamstring injury in the middle of the year, he still led the NL with 44 doubles. In 134 total games, he slashed .272/.335/.483 with 19 home runs and 87 RBI.

He struggled in the postseason though, going just 3-for-20 with eight strikeouts in the Dodgers’ NL Division Series loss to the Washington Nationals.