The Los Angeles Dodgers were shut out from the 2020 Baseball Writers’ Association of America Awards, of course not all was lost this year for the World Series champions. Coming off a postseason in which he earned MVP honors in the National League Championship Series and World Series, Corey Seager was ninth in final voting for NL MVP.
The highest Seager appeared on any ballot was sixth — receiving three such votes. He garnered two votes for seventh place, three for eighth, four for ninth and three for 10th. Overall, Seager tallied 43 points.
Seager was an MVP finalist in 2016, when he finished third (Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant won the award), and he was on the final ballot in 2017, though way down the list at 18th place.
After essentially missing all of 2018 due to Tommy John surgery (and an eventual hip operation), Seager spent last year knocking off rust and working his way back into form, then produced at the level that had come to be expected.
He earned significant praise heading into Spring Training, again during Summer Camp and all throughout the 2020 season. Seager finished the year batting .307/.358/.585 with 12 doubles, 15 home runs and 41 RBI.
The only blip on the radar was back discomfort that kept Seager out for a brief stretch. He avoided a stint on the 10-day injured list and wound up appearing in 52 of 60 possible games.
“He won Rookie of the Year a few years ago, and he’s playing like an MVP,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Defensively, offensively, I think he’s in the top three in quality of contact, how hard the ball comes off the bat, he’s a doubles machine.
“Really excited that he’s healthy, so we’ve got to keep him healthy and on the baseball field.”
Seager joins rare company
Behind a historic effort in the postseason, Seager became just the eighth player in MLB history to earn MVP of the NLCS and World Series in the same year.
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