The defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers had a rough April. Now, May is starting off worse than they could have expected.
All-Star shortstop Corey Seager will have to undergo Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of the 2018 season.
Seager—one of the rising young stars in baseball—has played all 27 games for the Dodgers at shortstop, slashing .291/.351/.476 with three home runs and a 129 wRC+. In 159 career games, Seager has hit 42 home runs with a 136 wRC+ and 4.6 fWAR.
Corey Seager to Undergo Tommy John Surgery, Miss Remainder of Season
Losing Seager for the season is impactful, especially for a team reeling like the Dodgers. They have been without third baseman Justin Turner all season due to a broken wrist in Spring Training. Turner isn’t expected back until at least June. Right fielder Yasiel Puig is dealing with a hip issue as well.
Now, the Dodgers were also without Turner for the 2017 NLCS, where they defeated the Cubs in five games to win the pennant. Kike Hernandez will be serviceable at shortstop. Also, current center fielder Chris Taylor could make some starts there as well. They also re-called 26-year old Breyvic Valera from Triple-A Oklahoma City. With that said, losing an All-Star shortstop for five-sixths of the season doesn’t bode well for any team, defending pennant winners included.
The question could be whether Andrew Freidman and the Dodgers front office would be willing to deal prospects for a superstar like Manny Machado. A deal like that would obviously help a team trying to go back to the World Series. With that said, it’s a huge risk, considering the Dodgers’ payroll near the luxury-tax threshold and the possibility of Machado being a rental for three months. Seager will be perfectly ready to resume his role as the Los Angeles shortstop come 2019.
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