July 6th, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka There were two quakes on Friday evening: the first a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Ridgecrest, CA that was felt – significantly – at Dodger Stadium, 152 miles to the south; and the second a 16.1 in San Bernardino, CA that was felt throughout California … the California League, that is. And while the first was clearly an act of God, the second was an act of rehabbing Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager.
That 16-1 thing was actually the final score of the game between the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Angels Advanced Single-A affiliate Inland Empire 66ers at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino, CA – a short 57 miles from Chavez Ravine.
To the surprise of most Dodger fans (and the media), it was widely reported on Friday afternoon that Seager would make his first of what is expected to be three rehab appearances with the Quakes instead of jumping right back into action with the Dodgers, as had been previously reported. And while the 25-year-old Charlotte, NC native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2012 out of Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, NC was only in the game for three offensive and two defensive innings as he works his way back from a strained left hamstring suffered on June 11, he made the very best of it.
After a leadoff walk by Quakes right fielder Jeren Kendall (who promptly stole second base), fellow rehabbing Dodger A.J. Pollock (right elbow infection) flied out to left, bringing Seager to the plate for his first at-bat of the night. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Seager singled up the middle, scoring Kendall.
In the bottom of the second inning, Seager made his only defensive play of the game at shortstop, a 6-3 ground out by 66ers third baseman Jordan Zimmerman, to leadoff the inning. He then led off the top of the third inning with a sharp line drive infield single to 66ers first baseman Devin Davis on an 0-2 count and took second on a single by Quakes catcher Connor Wong, but was left stranded on base on an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Quakes first baseman Marcus Chiu.
And with that, Seager’s first game in a Quakes uniform since July 11, 2014 was finished, having gone 2-for-2 with two singles and a RBI. Not bad.
Pollock finished his night going 0-for-3, with two fly outs and a strikeout in his five innings of rehab work. Through his first two of what is expected to be several more rehab appearances with Rancho Cucamonga, the 31-year-old Hebron, CT native is 0-for-6 with three strikeouts.
The Quakes, on outstanding pitching performances by starter Austin Hamilton and relievers Austin Drury, Bryan Warzek and Wes Helsabeck, absolutely pounded the Cal League South last place 66ers, scoring 10 runs (that’s not a typo) in the top of the ninth inning, when they sent a total of 15 batters (ditto) to the plate to complete the magnitude 16-1 pounding of Inland Empire.
With the win, Rancho is now tied for first place in the Cal League South second-half standings with the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres) and Lancaster JetHawks (Rockies) with identical 9-7 records, while the 66ers fall to 5-11 in the second half. The Quakes have already guaranteed themselves a playoff berth, having won the first half rather handily.
Per Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Seager will rehab with the Quakes again on Saturday evening (vs. Inland Empire) and on Monday evening (vs. Lake Elsinore), with Sunday being an off day for the two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and 2016 National League Rookie of the Year.
Play Ball!
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So glad to see he’s picking up right where he left off.
I’d rather save Seager for the Marlins series on the next homestand just to make sure his hamstring holds up A-OK, but it’s good to see his bat has remained sharp in the meantime. As for Pollock, he’s gonna need a lot more time to get back to form offensively plus he’s gonna have to deal with the potential likelihood of becoming a part-time player due to the full emergence of Alex Verdugo as a big-league regular this season. Might have to platoon with Joc Pederson in LF in order to make himself useful for a change.
On a sidenote, OF prospect DJ Peters continues his major offensive turnaround dating back to last month for AA Tulsa and now appears to be back on track for a possible late-season call-up. So far for AAA OKC, his K/BB ratio has been break-even (had to do a double take on that particular stat, lol) and he isn’t chasing pitches nearly as much anymore. Whatever hitting adjustments the coaching staff has tried to get him to adopt this past winter might’ve finally taken hold at long last. Not saying he’s the second coming of Dave Winfield (would be awesome if that were the case), but he’s definitely looking like the player Dodgers were banking on him becoming when they drafted him three years ago.
Right you are; looks like “it” has clicked in for Peters (whatever “it” might be for a hitter). I am excited about the next group of Dodgers in training, and the group a year behind, and the next group, and… Regarding Seager, the Dodgers are a cautious lot with players returning from injuries, when Seager returns to the lineup I am confident he will be at 100%.
I think that “IT” you’re referring to might be Peters just needing to mature mentally as a player, much like Bellinger has already done this season. Now I’m really beginning to wonder if they ever needed Pollock’s services in the first place. Even Garlick of late has shown to be big-league ready, but I honestly see him as trade bait as the deadline looms near (praying he lands with the Halos, club he rooted for growing up). Yeah, Dodger farm system isn’t done cranking out this year’s bumper crop as we’ve yet to see the aforementioned Peters, Lux, White, and possibly Reks making their official big-league debuts at some point. Who knows, should the Dodgers wrap up their division earlier than expected we could very well see them up with the parent club by then…