The Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten several key contributors back in recent weeks, but they still are awaiting the return of Corey Seager, who has been sidelined since May 16 with a right hand fracture.
The 27-year-old recently progressed to taking batting practice and appeared to be inching closer to starting a rehab assignment with one of the Minor League affiliates last week. Those plans came to a halt, however, due to Seager experiencing some soreness.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided an update, and although there hasn’t been a setback, there is no timeline for Seager getting back on the field. “He’s just kind of going through this progression,” Roberts said.
“His body looks amazing, he’s moving around really well, the arm, catching the baseball. Now it’s just getting this thing to heal up so he can not have any soreness when he’s swinging the bat.
“Hopefully with the way he is, we can get him back with us as soon as possible. Right now, I just don’t have a timeline. I want to see him take some live at-bats first.”
With Seager feeling soreness, the Dodgers have scaled back on his workload and are allowing him more rest days. “I think we’ve cut back a little bit on the volume,” Roberts noted. “That’s certainly logical, and we’ve followed that.”
Roberts initially hoped Seager would be back in the Dodgers lineup by early July but now is conceding it could take longer than that. “I think anything is possible with this,” Roberts said.
“Our hope was early July, and I think Corey would’ve said the same thing. Now as each day passes, obviously it’s taking a little bit longer. I just don’t know when that could be. (After) the All-Star break, it’s certainly a possibility.”
Smith: Dodgers can’t rely on waiting for Seager, injured players to return
As the Dodgers were in the midst of their four-game losing streak last week, Will Smith opined that the team must continue pushing through as Seager and other players remain on the mend.
“I mean, yeah, it’ll be nice when we get all our pieces back together. But no one is really thinking we’re losing because they’re not here,” Smith said.
“We’ve lost some games simply because we haven’t played our best. Given away some games, fallen behind, couldn’t get anything going offensively. We still have plenty good players that are active that should be good enough to win ballgames.
“But once those guys come back, it’s only going to make us even better.”
The Dodgers have responded nicely since being no-hit by the Chicago Cubs last Thursday by winning three consecutive games.
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