Whether because of Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Mookie Betts or another factor, Corey Seager has often managed to fly under the radar over parts of six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yes, Seager was a unanimous National League Rookie of the Year winner, and an All-Star and Silver Slugger in 2016 and 2017, but he also missed essentially all of the 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery.
Seager was productive last year, but didn’t meet the bar that had been set as he worked off the rust that came from essentially losing an entire season to injury. While recovering from Tommy John, he also underwent arthroscopic hip surgery.
Buoyed by a healthy offseason and ability to further train and condition during the months-long quarantine period, Seager got off to a hot start in 2020. He began to generate headlines but then wound up missing a stretch of games due to back discomfort.
It has been merely a blip on the radar for the 26-year-old, who continues to tear the cover off the ball. “He’s playing like an MVP,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Thursday’s comeback win against the Colorado Rockies.
Seager went 3-for-5 with two RBI and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
“He won Rookie of the Year a few years ago, and he’s playing like an MVP. Defensively, offensively, I think he’s in the top three in quality of contact, how hard the ball comes off the bat, he’s a doubles machine,” Roberts added.
“Really excited that he’s healthy, so we’ve got to keep him healthy and on the baseball field.”
Among qualified batters, Seager ranks first in barrels per plate appearance at 12.6%, he’s fifth with 57.2% hard hit percentage and his 93.5 mph average exit velocity is good for eighth.
Overall this season, Seager is batting .311/.362/.589 with 12 doubles, 13 home runs and 37 RBI over 46 games. Seager’s .952 on-base plus slugging percentage is pacing to be the second-best mark of his career, trailing only the .986 OPS he had in 27 games in 2015.
Seager relieved to have good health
Hours before Seager was removed from a game because of the minor back trouble, he’d raved about being healthy and getting an offseason to train.
“It’s a body-confidence thing, just feeling better, feeling stronger, being able to make moves I want to be able to make,” he said at the time. “It’s showing. Hopefully I can keep it going.”
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