Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager burst onto the scene in 2016, as he was named the unanimous National League Rookie of the Year and finished third in the NL MVP voting.
Everyone knew how much talent Seager possessed, but going into his second season many thought Seager would regress a bit just because of how strong his rookie campaign was. But generally speaking, that did not end up being the case.
Seager got off to a strong start, hitting .319 in the month of April. He carried that momentum all the way into the All-Star break, where he was named to his second straight All-Star team.
The 23-year-old’s best month of the season came in July, where he batted .333/.388/.622 with six home runs and 14 RBIs.
Seager’s slugging numbers went down in the second half of the season largely in part to an elbow issue that hampered him both at the plate and in the field.
He missed a short time due to the injury, but still played 145 games on the season and hit .295/.375/.479 with 22 home runs, 77 RBIs and 85 runs scored.
Seager carried his strong year into the playoffs, posting a .921 on-base plus slugging percentage in the NL Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers swept the series, but it came at an expense as Seager hurt his back in Game 3 while sliding into second base. The injury caused him to miss the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Charlie Culberson and the rest of his teammates filled in admirably for Seager, and the Dodgers eliminated the Cubs in five games. Seager was able to return for the World Series and started all seven games, going 6-for-27 with one double, one home run, four RBI and three walks.
2017 Highlight:
Seager had the first walk-off hit in his life during the 2017 season, but his best highlight came in Game 2 of the World Series. With the game tied at one, Seager launched an opposite-field, two-run home run off Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander.
The Dodgers wound up losing the game, but that moment was a special one for Seager as he did something he rarely ever does: show emotion. Upon making contact with the ball, he let out a loud yell as he knew he had gotten enough for it to go out.
Seager is not one to show up pitchers, but the emotion he displayed when hitting that home run was so raw that not a single person had a problem with it.
2018 Outlook:
Seager heads into the 2018 season of course as the starting shortstop and will likely bat second in the order, as he has the last two years.
His elbow issue was a problem for the second half of 2017, but Seager will not need surgery during the offseason and should be completely healed by the start of Spring Training.
