Dodgers’ Corey Seager May be the Face of the Franchise Soon

The current face of the Los Angeles Dodgers is Clayton Kershaw, but he can feel the team’s young shortstop Corey Seager right on his tail for that title.

As of now, Clayton Kershaw is undoubtedly face of the Dodgers. It is for a good reason because he is without a doubt the best pitcher in baseball at the moment, and he may even be the greatest pitcher in the historic franchise’s history. He has been a constant in this organization through ownership changes, front office changes, and managerial changes.

But how much longer will he be the face of this franchise? My guess is not much longer, as the Dodgers have an up-and-coming superstar in Corey Seager. The reigning Rookie of the Year looks like a pro’s pro out on the field even though he just turned 23 years of age.

It is obvious that he is fan favorite, but not yet at the level of the ace Clayton Kershaw. This is evident by recent jersey sales where Kershaw finished third in the majors for most sold while Seager finished behind him in seventh. With Los Angeles being such a big market, it is no surprise that the Dodgers have two of the top 10 selling jerseys in the Majors.

With the fan base behind the Dodgers, being the face of this team may mean something even bigger. The Dodgers are among the most polarizing teams in the MLB, right next to the Cubs and Yankees, respectively. Being the face of the team would make Seager one of the major faces of Major League Baseball.

So how exactly is a player with just one year under his belt creeping up on Kershaw’s stranglehold as the Dodgers’ franchise player? First, let us start with the hype that he received before even making his first appearance on an MLB field.

Corey Seager was the top-rated prospect in all of baseball before being called up in September of 2015. Because of that, it is no surprise that fans were uber-excited to see him in Dodger Blue. But even more so was the team’s lack of willingness to part ways with him to acquire All-Star and CY-Young caliber pitchers Cole Hamels or David Price. This move frustrated fans as they wanted to deepen the rotation and do whatever it took to win a World Series.

But thankfully the front office held onto Seager. So since they didn’t trade him for a proven star, fans were intrigued and excited when he was called up. What they saw in a one month span was nothing short of spectacular as he hit .337 in the month of September with four home runs in just 27 games. This play earned him not only a spot on the postseason roster, but a starting job on the team.

Fans were finally able to see what the front office had been raving about for months so in 2016, after getting a small taste of Seager, Dodger Nation was even more hyped to see him play a full year of baseball with the big league squad. Yet again, in 2016, the young superstar-in-the-making more than met expectations.

His special 2016 season all culminated with the honor of being the unanimous Rookie of the Year. He posted a .308 average and 26 long balls. Along with ROY honors, he was a National League Silver Slugger, NL All-Star, and a finalist for the MVP award. These honors only got him further into the hearts of the Dodger faithful.

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Now in 2017 we have ourselves a star. A star who is exactly what a team wants to represent their franchise. He plays the game in a manner much like his mentor Chase Utley, who was the face of that Phillies franchise which beat the Dodgers in two consecutive NLCS series. These traits they have in common might be what soon propels him over Kershaw.

On top of that, Corey plays one of the most glamorous positions in all of sports. Like center field, shortstop has the glamour equivalent to the quarterback in football and point guard in basketball.

When kids play baseball, most want to play shortstop. More often than not, if the player at the shortstop position is a top three player on the team, he is likely the face of the team. This position is more enticing now than ever, as Derek Jeter glamorized it even more during his tenure with the Yankees.

Not only is this position glamorous, but they play everyday. Unlike pitchers who only pitch every fifth day, Corey is out there almost everyday. This gives more fans the opportunity to go out and see him. In fact the 23-year-old shortstop, in his short career, has appeared in almost as many games as Kershaw has in his 10-year career. Seager has more opportunities to gain the love from these fans than Kershaw does.

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With all of these factors, Seager is growing on the Dodger community. The fact that he is just four spots behind Clayton in jersey sales says something about how close he is to passing Kershaw as the face of this franchise.

It helps that fans see him more often and at a very popular position. Kershaw may no longer be the face of this team in the near future due to Seager’s rapid growth on this tremendous fan base here in Los Angeles.