The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped their second straight Cactus League contest on Friday, as they couldn’t string many hits together in their 3-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields.
There were a couple of firsts for the Dodgers in the game, though, as top pitching prospect Walker Buehler made his first Cactus League start, tossing two shutout innings, and shortstop Corey Seager played the field for the first time in a Major League game this spring.
The reason that Seager hadn’t been seen at shortstop up until this point was because of the elbow issue that hampered him during the second half of the 2017 season.
Seager opted for rest and rehab during the offseason as opposed to surgery, so when he reported to camp he needed to complete a throwing program to ensure that the elbow felt healthy.
He has now played defense twice this spring, once on the Minor League side and then on Friday, and is in good health. He expects to take a day off on Saturday before playing defense in two straight games to cross the final hurdle off his checklist.
“Now it’s just kind of getting your body ready to play a few back-to-backs before the season starts,” Seager said.
With only a little more than a week until the Dodgers leave Camelback Ranch to head back to Los Angeles, Seager said he is taking advantage of the time he has remaining in Arizona to ensure that he is ready for Opening Day both offensively and defensively.
“Some people are ready to go, some people are still looking for some stuff. It’s just one of those things that you’ve got a week left, so you might as well take advantage of it,” he said.
Seager went 0-for 3 at the plate in the loss to the Diamondbacks and is only batting .185 (5-for-27) in Cactus League play, although his bat is the least of the Dodgers’ worries right now.
