The Los Angeles Dodgers welcome back Clayton Kershaw from the injured list Sunday but won’t have Corey Seager available for the series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He went 2-for-4 with a run scored prior to being replaced by Chris Taylor in the field in the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained it was due to a foul ball Seager took off his calf, which began to cramp.
Now, however, the early 2020 National League MVP candidate is dealing with trouble in his left quad. “Just to give him a day, but there’s a little bit of a left quad (issue). A little bit with hydration, cramping, we’re not sure,” Roberts said before Sunday’s game.
“He felt it [Saturday] night, so we took him out of the game to be precautionary. I just wanted to give it that extra day and see where we’re at. I don’t see him available, so day-to-day.
“The foul ball was a couple nights ago was off his calf, so it’s two separate incidents. I think a little bit of dehydration. It was hot last night in here, and there might have been a little cramping.
“We really don’t know, but just where we’re at, we want to make sure nothing comes of it. To get him out [Saturday] night, give him a day today to get treatment, and see where we’re at tomorrow.”
While the Dodgers have waited for Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts to find their rhythm at the plate, Seager has been locked in since Summer Camp. That carried into the regular season, as he started with a modest three-game hitting streak.
After it was snapped in a July 26 loss to the San Francisco Giants, Seager has since followed that with a current five-game hitting streak. Included in that was three consecutive games with a home run.
On the season he’s batting .361/.425/.694 with three doubles, three home runs and six RBI. Seager has reached based in each of the nine games thus far.
“He’s healthy, he’s seeing the baseball well, he’s using the big part of the field and he’s taking balls and swinging at strikes,” Robert said of the success. “Corey can run a count if he needs to, he sees the ball out of the hand really well.
“But I think a lot of it is he’s just really healthy and seeing it really well.”
Bellinger returns
With Seager not expected to appear Sunday, Bellinger is back in the lineup after being given his first game off this season. The reigning MVP has struggled at the plate as he works through refining his swing mechanics.
“He’s starting to take some aggressive swings,” Roberts noted. “As long as he’s staying in the strike zone, he’ll be fine. [Saturday], a day to kind of collect himself, and he’s excited to be back in there and he’ll be in there through the off day (Thursday).”
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