After missing all but the first month of the 2018 season because of Tommy John surgery and then also recovering from an arthroscopic hip operation, Corey Seager had found his rhythm at the time of suffering a strained left hamstring.
The Los Angeles Dodgers did not provide a timetable for his return, and Seager himself noted the unpredictable nature of hamstring injury can cloud the judgement of how well the recovery process has gone. Nonetheless, it was reasonable to expect an absence of four to six weeks.
After suffering the injury June 11, the two-time Silver Slugger was activated off the 10-day injured list exactly one month later and returned to the lineup the following night in the series opener against the Boston Red Sox.
Seager went hitless in four at-bats but said health was not a factor, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I felt fine going out there,” said Seager who was 0 for 4 in his first career start at leadoff. “He was good tonight regardless (of this being Seager’s first start in a month).”
Seager’s nine-game hitting streak was snapped with the quiet night at the plate.
Already with a reputation of being an aggressive batter, Seager took matters up a notch in the Dodgers’ 8-1 loss at Fenway Park. He saw all of 11 pitches on the night, and swung at nine of them. He offered at the first pitch in each of his at-bats, twice putting it into play.
The 25-year-old went through a similar approach earlier this season as he was working to find a level of comfort. “I think if you look at hitting, to simplify it, people put it in two buckets: approach and versus mechanics,” Roberts said of Seager in May.
“If you ask Corey which side he’s on, I think he’s more skewed to the mechanics side. He’s always working, he’s a perfectionist.”
Seager started a modest four-game hitting streak the night of Roberts’ assessment and went on to hit .331/.397/.587 with 13 doubles, six home runs and 28 RBI. Seager will have ample opportunities to find his swing again, as the Dodgers plan to start him throughout the weekend.
