It is arguably the most frequently asked question around Dodger Stadium these days: Should Dodgers manager Don Mattingly put Jimmy Rollins in the lineup as his everyday shortstop once he is fully recovered from his hand injury or should he continue to use rookie sensation Corey Seager even after Rollins is healthy? Taking it one step further and an even hotter topic for discussion is whether or not the Dodgers should use Seager as their starting shortstop once postseason play begins or should they go with Rollins, who has appeared in a total of 46 postseason games – including 11 World Series games?

Since making his MLB debut on September 3, Seager is 18 for 43 (.419) with a .528 on-base percentage and .628 slugging percentage. This tallies out to a phenomenal 1.156 OPS. And while Rollins is clearly having a better second half than he had in the first half, he is still hitting only .220 on the season with a .279 OBP, .355 SLG for a lackluster .634 OPS.

There is no disputing that the experience, veteran presence and leadership qualities that Rollins brings to the Dodgers clubhouse is invaluable – even to and especially for 21-year-old Corey Seager. But it impossible to ignore what Seager has done in his very brief time (12 total games) in the big leagues.

In his 12 major league games, Seager has had multiple hits in six of them.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Earlier this week Mattingly told the media that Jimmy Rollins is his shortstop and that he will resume that role the moment he returns from his injury. But since then, the Dodger skipper has softened on that stance by saying that Seager will get his at-bats even after Rollins returns.

“We’ll see. We’re going to have to give [Justin Turner] days off and we’re going to put the best lineup out there,” Mattingly told MLB.com’s Steve Bourbon. “Everything is always evolving. Right now we’ve got to get guys back healthy. There’s plenty of playing time right now for Corey. He doesn’t need to worry about what’s going forward, he just needs to play today. We don’t need to worry about what’s going forward, we need to win today.”

Although unconfirmed, one has to suspect that Mattingly is beginning to hear some “chatter” from those above him in the Dodgers food chain. And while Mattingly denied this as recently as last Saturday, if the chatter hasn’t begun yet it probably will very soon – especially if the Dodgers begin to sputter offensively in their remaining 18 games.

“I don’t know what the chatter is or if there is chatter about Corey and [the shortstop] position or whatever,” said Mattingly. “He’s going to be really good, and he is really good. At this point, with where we’re at and what’s going on, we don’t plan to change. Andrew and Farhan haven’t come to me and said, ‘You’ve got to get him in there every day.’”

Former MLB manger and current Dodger Talk co-host Kevin Kennedy – an obvious old-school guy – is clearly in the ‘Rollins over Seager’ camp when it comes to playing time in the postseason.

“Right now, for me, it should be Jimmy Rollins, he’s been through it before. But Corey Seager has made a play for being on the postseason roster,” Kennedy told listeners during Monday night’s Dodger Talk postgame show. “But I think right now the guy who’s been through it… Jimmy’s had a good second half, especially since they put him back in the leadoff spot. And listen, he’s a fabulous shortstop, I’m talking about Rollins. Seager’s been doing great but there’s clearly… Jimmy has range, I mean, he doesn’t make many mistakes.”

But here again, although Rollins has indeed had a better second half than first, it only amounts to a slash-line of .233 / .301 / .386 for an OPS of .687 which, quite frankly, is anything but “a good second half,” as Kennedy claims.

It’s hard to argue that Rollins isn’t a great defensive shortstop – impossible, in fact – and he has four Gold Gloves, three All-Star appearances and a NL MVP title to prove it. And while the sample size for Seager is ridiculously small, he’s pretty good defensively as well. Yes, he has already committed three errors in 46 total chances for a less-than-stellar .935 fielding percentage, but he has also made several outstanding plays that Rollins never would have made – especially on those high line drives that the 6′-4″ Seager can reach that the 5′-7″ Rollins cannot.

As an old-school guy myself, I get what Kevin Kennedy is saying and fully understand the importance of what Rollins’ experience means; I fully understand the ‘Jimmy Rollins deserves to be there because he’s been there before’ mentality. But if Andrew Friedman, Farhan Zaidi and Don Mattingly truly want to put their best eight out there every day right now and through the postseason, as they all have repeatedly say that they do, then Corey Seager must be among those eight, not Jimmy Rollins.