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Dodgers: Concerns With Corey Seager Offensively

Thus far in 2019, Corey Seager is struggling. Right now – the lifetime .296 hitter is at just .228 – and a deeper dive into the data is more staggering.

Recently, he spoke with Pedro Moura of The Athletic about his slow start. Indeed, Seager is coming off multiple surgeries and a 2018 in which he didn’t play after late April.



Seager Talks About Offensive Struggles

Here is what Seager had to say about his season offensively.

He has particularly struggled against left-handed pitching, and so the last two days against the Giants did not go great for him. What is wrong with his swing, he said, is making him especially susceptible to left-handed pitching.

“I’m searching a little bit, trying to find it a little bit, but I’m not far,” he said. “I’m missing a few little things and I’ll feel a lot better.”

This is important – Seager is admitting his swing feels out of whack. Whereas there are players in a slump who will outwardly say that their swing feels terrific. While Seager says he is ‘not far’ off, it is an admirable trait that he’s shooting it straight.

Moreover, Seager does not want to place blame of a slow start on any physical ailment.

Seager said he does not want to blame his performance on missing most of last season while recovering from elbow and hip surgeries. He also not want to treat this start as a serious issue. He does not want to be concerned.

“That’s not how you’re wired,” he said. “You’re wired to expect to fix it. It’s frustrating, yeah, but not worried.”

If Seager is in the lineup and not on the IL, one should assume that he is fully healthy. And if a player is fully healthy – it’s reasonable to expect he is the player we have come to know since the cement has hardened on his career. Especially if it is someone who has been as remarkably consistent as one Corey Seager.

Deeper Data

If you are someone who said that Seager just doesn’t look himself – you weren’t wrong. While none of us are professional hitting coaches, the extended data suggests that Seager is not driving or ‘barreling’ the baseball.

https://twitter.com/DiamondHoggers/status/1124292645566730240

From Baseball Savant – a site that tracks things like batted ball data – Seager has just 5 ‘barrels’ in 85 batted balls. Furthermore, the site has him projected for an average of .219 if these trends continue. Notably, Seager has a career barrel % of 8.3 which has decreased to 6.0% thus far in 2019.

Of course, we know the real Corey Seager. Otherwise this article wouldn’t be written. It goes without saying that the lull in performance seems like the outlier.

Your Opinion on Corey Seager

Let us know in the comments what you think of Seager’s 2019 season, and what should be done to get it on track.


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16 Comments

  1. I have a feeling Seager will struggle like this the entire 2019. I would like to use the two surgeries(hip and elbow) as the cause. IMO, I would drop Seager from batting 2nd to lower say 5th-6th i.e. switch him with Verdugo. Another problem is Turner’s struggling to hit. When a LHP is on the mound, Pederson is AWOL for example this entire week(Giants,Padres,Braves-1st game).

    1. I think he’s going to get hot at some point. He’s too good not to. That said, he has eaten into a significant portion of the season and not enough production happened. For instance, a career high total in home runs, OPS, or RBI are out the window. If you’re a person who that matters to. I will trade that for a huge hit in October of course.

      1. Did they write an article last year about how far into the season it was with Paul Goldschmidt? That worked out pretty well for him.

  2. Unless he’s hurt, I think he’ll rediscover his mojo BUT it may take him months to do so. Look at how long it took Hershiser to come back 30 years ago. I can’t see any good reason for not playing Verdugo everyday and I agree with Robin re: switching Seager and Verdugo in the batting order. All this said IMHO.

  3. The real issue is not what Seager is doing at the moment…the issue is the Dodgers being exposed to be facing every LHP on earth because of their willingness to be so out of balanced. Not only that but Roberts has zero options late in tight games because of a shortage of any real RH bats to turn to. Why? because with LHP the RH available are already starting in that game.

  4. I have written off the first half of Corey’s season under the guise of “working his way back”. I have to live with that. However, when you couple Seager’s diminished productivity with our platooning, I get the feeling the ship of state is beginning to list to starboard. This may turn out to be a long season. Coupled with Turner’s somewhat diminished home run productivity, we have reasons to be concerned. I keep telling myself that Big Red will eventually get hot, and put up his usual numbers. If, however, Seager continues to play at his current pace, and with Pollock not playing – even though he was not doing much this season to begin with – we will experience a long, long summer. Go Blue!!

    1. The Dodgers will have their worst season under this regime but it will end up being the team that wins it all

  5. Seager will figure it out and return to form.
    The FO will make moves to bring in another rh bat or 2
    Our great pitching will be a big factor in earning us wins
    The Dodgers will make the playoffs
    I’m glad I’m a Dodger fan!

  6. I think it will take time for him to get back to where he was. It might even be next year. Look at Ryu’s return from shoulder Sx. He now finally looks right. For a hitter, I think his hip is slowing him down and preventing him from barrelling balls the way he always has.

  7. Corey doesn’t seem to have the same drive as before . Maybe he should be out there everyday. Maybe he needs to be more hungry because he isn’t helping the team right now .

  8. I agree with the author, regarding Seager’s struggles. I believe he will sort things out and hopefully be hitting about .275 for the season, or better. For the immediate future, I like the suggestion of moving him down in the order and maybe moving another bat up to his spot. Seager’s problems combined with Pederson having to face lefties and Taylor’s abysmal start, suggest the Dodgers need to slip another right handed bat into the outfield to replace the hole Pollock left. He’s not coming back anytime soon so “platooning” various players is only an interim solution. Could any of the guys in AAA be of help?

  9. I agree Dodgers need to drop Seager in the 7th hole and put Verdugo in the 2nd…Roberts always changes his lineups as far as where the player bats…drives me crazy

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