Since being selected 18th overall in the 2012 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, shortstop Corey Seager has faced lofty expectations. He hails from a baseball family — his father Jeff attracted some attention from scouts, and brothers Kyle and Justin are part of the Seattle Mariners organization.
Kyle of course is an All-Star third baseman and to this point owns family bragging rights. However, that may not last much longer with his younger brother Corey earmarked as the Dodgers starting shortstop come Opening Day of the 2016 season.
Seager made his Major League debut last season, as he was promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City once active rosters expanded. Initially filling for an injured Jimmy Rollins, the 21-year-old shortstop eventually took hold of the starting job.
Seager appeared in 27 games with the Dodgers and batted .337/.425/.561 with four home runs, eight doubles, 17 RBIs, a .421 wOBA and 175 wRC+ in 27 games.
He then became the youngest position player to start a postseason game in franchise history. Although Seager enters camp without any question as to what his role is with the Dodgers, he told David Vassegh on AM 570’s Dodger Talk he won’t change his approach:
“You still have to go out and earn a job, nothing is given to you. Last year was a different scenario of coming into spring to see the atmosphere. There wasn’t really the potential of making the team out of spring. It was more of, ‘Let’s learn as much as possible.’ This year it’s going to be more of a grind trying to earn a [starting] job.”
Seager appeared in 14 games as a non-roster invitee last spring, batting .333/.500/.500. It was his first time participating in big league camp.
Seager enters the 2016 season as the consensus No. 1 prospect, as he swept the honor from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN and MLB.com. With his close friend Scott Schebler no longer with the Dodgers, Seager is going to live with Joc Pederson during Spring Training.
