Dodgers Don’t Need to Seek External Help With Corey Seager Hurt

The Dodgers are no strangers to having to get by with Corey Seager out.  They did it all last year and are now set to ride out Corey’s latest injury.

Corey Seager is sidelined with an injury and the Dodgers have to get by without their All-Star shortstop.  Sound familiar?  In 2018 the Dodgers were without Seager for nearly the entire season.  In the first half of the season, they used Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez to get by until they acquired Manny Machado prior to the trade deadline.

Now, Seager is going to be sidelined with a hamstring injury.  While nothing has officially come out yet, the team is expecting him to miss four to six weeks.  That would put him out until the end of July or early August.  While Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez haven’t been great, they proved last year they were more than good enough for the Dodgers to get by.

With a 9.5 game lead in the NL West, the Dodgers are certainly not going to panic that Seager is out.  This is a very talented team and in the first couple of months, Corey did not even play like his usual self.  In April, Seager hit just .240 with a .691 OPS.  It wasn’t until the last few weeks when Corey Seager finally started to look like his pre-surgery self.

Hernandez and Taylor both give the Dodgers steady defense.  Given that shortstop is a defensive minded position, the team can get by even if they don’t hit like they are capable of.  Kiké still mashes lefties and Chris Taylor has proven he can hit righties over the last few seasons with an OPS over .800.  With one of the best lineups in baseball, the Dodgers can plug in one or both players and get ride out Seager’s injury.

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One thing the Seager injury could do is give David Freese more playing time.  Max Muncy has proven he can play an above average second base, and that would leave just one of Taylor or Hernandez in the lineup against righties.  Freese has been a rejuvenated hitter since coming to Los Angeles and his bat would help compensate for the loss of Seager’s bat.

Given the expected timeline of four to six weeks, it doesn’t make sense for the Dodgers to trade prospects away for a short term stopgap.  The club has a nearly insurmountable NL West lead, and there are no clear cut upgrades on the market when factoring in defense and offense.  CT3 and Kiké have proven their value over the past few seasons and they will once again do it with Seager out.

While there is never a good time to lose a player of Corey’s caliber, he did get hurt at a time when he will have plenty of time to regain his swing prior to the postseason.  In the meantime, it’s up to the Dodgers’ depth to minimize the loss of Seager’s offense.