NEWSLETTER
It was inevitable. The volume of hit by pitches are way up this year, as pitchers are throwing harder and wilder than ever, and the desire to go up and in over and over again is leaving batters at an increasing risk of serious injury. So far, it seems like players and fans have been lucky that it hasn’t cost anyone serious time, but that wasn’t going to last forever.
Unfortunately for Corey Seager, the Dodgers, and Dodgers fans, the star shortstop was where the luck stopped:
That right there is a broken right hand, as announced by the Dodgers after the game. It’ll be a little while before a timeline for return to baseball activities can be established, because it depends on the extent of the fracture, the location, etc. But it’s almost certainly going to be multiple months.
The Dodgers will probably turn to Chris Taylor as the everyday shortstop, or maybe youngster Gavin Lux gets some time there. They’ve already been without Cody Bellinger for most of the season, and others like Edwin Rios, Zach McKinstry, and A.J. Pollock are missing time, too. They’re so banged up they’re out there adding Albert Pujols and Yoshi Tsutsugo for depth …
As for Seager, 27, he’s part of the vaunted upcoming shortstop free agent class, and maybe even looked like the headliner given his youth and top shelf offensive performance when healthy. This injury probably doesn’t do much to change that, but obviously you’ll have to watch the recovery and ensure he comes back looking physically well enough. The timing sure sucks for him, especially as he has dealt with health issues in the past that have impacted productivity, and he was looking really healthy and productive these days.
I tend to think the Cubs’ most likely shortstop target in the class, if any, is simply re-upping with Javy Báez. But with so much money coming off the books and given Seager’s age, you never know how the Cubs might’ve viewed the next core opportunity (for context, he’s a year and a half younger than Báez, and only a few months older than Ian Happ, if you want to consider his age range).
