August 9th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Jayann Kellogg Corey Seager‘s dream 2020 season took a turn for the worse on Friday night. It’s not that the 26-year-old Charlotte, NC native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2012 out of Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, NC is struggling at the plate or as the Dodgers everyday shortstop; good heavens, he batting .295 with three home runs and has made several dazzling plays on defense. It’s that he’s hurt … again.
Seager exited Friday night’s game in the top of the third inning with what was called a back strain he suffered the inning before while attempting to make a diving stop of a sharp ground ball into left field off the bat of Giants catcher Chadwick Tromp. He tried to play through the discomfort but had to exit the game before play began in the top of the third. He was not in Saturday’s line up against the Giants, with utility man Chris Taylor assigned the shortstop position in his absence.
Fortunately, Seager’s back scan came back clean, and after some rest, he should soon return to action.
“There was a scan taken last night, which was clean,” manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday afternoon. “He hasn’t come in for treatment. I told him to lay low today.
“Last night there was less discomfort, that was encouraging. I don’t see him doing any baseball activities today. It’s still day-to-day, but very encouraged,” Roberts added.
With Seager’s history of back issues, there has been some speculation that perhaps he should be used as the team’s primary designated hitter. Roberts quickly debunked this speculation, saying that it is way too early to make that his role.
“Less than 24 hours ago, he was talking about how good his body felt. To take a dive and now talking about DH, that’s premature.” Roberts said.
Hopefully, this is just a bump in the road for Seager 15 games into the COVID-19-shortened 60-game season and nothing more. As we have seen, when healthy, the guy is unstoppable.
Let’s play ball!
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A nit — Corey turned 26 last April 27. I am a huge fan of Corey, but the grind of playing shortstop may require a position change sooner than later. Corey is above average defensively at shortstop, his preferred position, but his value to the Dodgers lies much more with his offense than defense. Diving after balls, turning double plays while avoiding sliding runners, backing up plays from third base to second base, and being the cutoff for outfield throws, takes a toll physically. Either Corey must start playing a more conservative defense at shortstop (remember when Bill Russell refused to dive after balls), or a position switch is needed. Second base is almost as physically demanding, and I don’t think moving to the third base is the answer — just take a look at the plays Justin Turner is asked to make every game. I think a move to first base, or left field, would be in the best interests of Corey and the Dodgers.
That one is on me, not Jayann. I added Seager’s bio info during edit. I was staring at 26 and inadvertently typed in 23. It has been corrected.
My apoloigies, especially to Jayann.