Dodgers: Seager looking strong; sprain and strain stretch LA’s depth

The Dodgers had a rough go of it yesterday, despite the win. Justin Turner and Rich Hill were diagnosed with injuries that will affect their playoff hopes.

The losses of these two veterans could hardly be a shock considering their respective injury histories, but the Dodgers still will be hurt by these losses. Turner is dealing with a “mild” ankle sprain while Hill is battling an MCL injury he faced in Spring Training this year.

Without Turner, Matt Beaty hopped into the infield once again, playing third base against the righty Dylan Bundy, who last week I pegged as:

"[…] a good test for the strikeout-heavy players on the Dodgers, which is to say that he will provide a good test for pretty much every single hitter he faces. The Dodgers strike out a lot, but if they can limit their Ks against Bundy, perhaps that will lead to momentum against the Mets and their dominant rotation."

Bundy ended up striking out six in 5.2 innings, but one of those strikeouts ended up gifting the Dodgers the win. If you missed it, Bundy punched out Russell Martin on a high fastball, but Orioles catcher Pedro Severino muffed the frame and let the ball skip to the backstop, allowing Cody Bellinger to score from third. And then Bundy refused or forgot (either way is not good) to cover home plate, allowing the lightning-quick Corey Seager to score from second base.

That saga gave the Dodgers the 4-2 lead that the bullpen was able to hold for the remainder of the game, ending the “hangover” skid and fending off the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the NL.

What could have been lost in the shuffle there was that Seager scored from second base on a passed ball, meaning he was running fast and trusted his body to potentially be in an awkward position on a play at the plate.

A healthy Seager often times mean a hot Seager, as I outlined just before his two-homer outburst in the first game of the Baltimore series, and if he can get his legs going in the box and on the base paths, he’ll be able to help shoulder some of the load losing JT from the middle of the lineup will cause.

On the Hill strained MCL, the Dodgers’ rotation has been fine without him, especially thanks to Tony Gonsolin. Gonsolin’s three innings and four strikeouts in relief of Hill made me start to like the idea of Julio Urias and Gonsolin piggy-backing on each other during the postseason, and just like in the Orioles game, having Kenta Maeda follow as well.

All told, the Dodgers have the depth to be hurt less by injuries to everyday players than most any other playoff team. The team should be set for its Mets matchup, just as long as the young core can fend off the injury bug.