After playing through elbow discomfort during stretches of the 2017 season, Corey Seager was no longer able to continue pushing through it come last April. A throw during the series with the San Francisco Giants caused Seager pain and led to an examination of his right elbow.
The Dodgers at that point determined he required season-ending Tommy John surgery. While recovering from that, Seager underwent arthroscopic hip surgery last August. He remained on track to be available for the start of Spring Training and Opening Day of the 2019 season.
After a steady build up in camp, which saw Seager progress from simply fielding grounders to throwing across the diamond, and tracking pitches to playing in Minor League games, he made his long-awaited 2019 debut Wednesday night.
Seager nearly hit a home run in his first at-bat, then got enough of a pitch from Cole Hamels to clear the fence in center field at Sloan Park in his second trip to the plate. Seager added a sacrifice fly and finished with a team-high two RBI.
More encouraging for the 24-year-old, however, was his ability to turn a double play without feeling any pain, per Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider:
“That was kind of one of those throws that would have really bothered me before and didn’t really have anything (bothersome) at all,” Seager said. “So it was kind of nice to keep making different plays at different angles and stuff and kind of keep checking those boxes.”
Seager did boot a relatively routine grounder in the fourth inning, with his error allowing Javier Baez to reach safely. But it was merely a blip on the radar.
The.
Stud.
Is.
Back. pic.twitter.com/0D1rc3Xi98— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 21, 2019
With Seager shaded toward the third-base line and the only infielder on the left side as the Dodgers were in a shift, he raced toward second base to field a toss from Kiké Hernandez and throw across his body for an inning-ending double play in the first.
The play was reminiscent of the one Seager completed last April at the expense of his elbow. With his health seemingly in good standing, Seager is expected to return to the lineup Friday and then play in the exhibition Freeway Series.
