Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Corey Seager, ‘I Want to Play Shortstop’, Talks About Frustrating Injury

The Dodgers, after nearly two and a half months of waiting, finally got Corey Seager back from the injured list. The shortstop had been on the IL since mid-May with a fractured bone in his right hand that was initially given a best-case recovery prognosis of 4-5 weeks for it to heal.

Seager missed 64 games.



The Dodgers have struggled with the injury bug all season long. That fact led to Andrew Friedman going out and acquiring All-Star shortstop Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals along with 3-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer.

On Friday, Corey made his return and chipped in a pair of hits in a 6-5 extra innings loss against the D-Backs. Before the game, he chatted with a group of reporters about the obvious elephant in the room. He’s a shortstop and Trea Turner is a shortstop.

“I’d like to play shortstop. That’s not really my decision. That’s their decision. I want to play shortstop, but we’ll see where it goes. … You’re excited to add guys like that whether they’re pitchers, position players, play your position or not. If you can add elite talent like we did, it helps you, it makes you a better team.”

Friedman touched on what Turner brings to the team… “Dynamic player.” “He contributes value in all aspects of the game.” “Excited to add a right-handed bat” of his caliber. But he wouldn’t touch on who will eventually end up seeing the lion’s share of time at shortstop. In fact, he purposefully avoided it.

Dave Roberts said that he wants to chat with Turner face to face before announcing any moves.

Related: What the Nationals Trade Means for LA and the Farm System

Seager batted fourth and started at shortstop on Friday. Over his career, he’s played 551 games at short and a whopping 6 at third base. Otherwise, he’s played nowhere else in the big leagues or minor leagues.

He’s also missed a lot of time with injuries over his 7-year career. He’s undergone Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm, a hip operation, and just endured a long recovery from a broken bone. Seager shared his frustrating experience with that.

I had some setbacks. I had some things that didn’t feel as good as I wanted them to. It was unfortunate. Unlucky, for sure. … I probably could have (played sooner) but it wasn’t worth it. You don’t want to come back for a game and then something happens. It was one of those things where it didn’t respond the way we wanted it to. … It was very frustrating. … But I’m ready now.

With those two hits in his return, Seager showed that he can absolutely still hit. And a nice backhanded play early in the game proved he can still get it done at shortstop.

“Corey’s been our shortstop for many years and he’s a premier shortstop,” Dave Roberts added on Friday. “Trea is right there in that same caliber. … So I’m going to talk to him and kind of figure out where the best fit is for him, for our club. But [Turner] can do so many things on a baseball field, and right now he’s a Dodger. Corey is a Dodger. It’s about winning and we’ll put the pieces together.”

The Dodgers and Dave Roberts are in another one of those tough spots with a good problem to have. Turner is currently on the covid-19 injury list after testing positive for the virus. The hope is that he can join the team during the upcoming homestand.

NEXT: Examining LA’s Insanely Deep Lineup with Addition of Trea Turner

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

5 Comments

  1. Trea in CF and Bellinger to the bench. If he had any other name Bellinger would either have already been at OKC or DFAd. Big Q is will he reach .125 BA or might he get up to .175 by season end? His Ofer last night may be an indicator as to which is more attainable

    1. @Jim C – I totally agree. It’s inconceivable that he is still getting as much playing time considering he is giving away 4 outs per game. I understand Dave Roberts stubbornness, but why isn’t Friedman forcing a move either to OKC or at the very least to the bottom of the lineup (8th hole). Aren’t managers today mainly puppets for the GMs? Well, is it then Friedman’s fault he is playing as much as he is? Also, where is the hitting coach’s input? Why isn’t he suggesting a tweak to his swing or a demotion to OKC. I am as clueless – as a fan – with what’s going on – as Bellinger is at the plate. His face of relief when he gets on base on an error or walk is like gee-whiz I got on base.

    2. Why would the GM actively seek, and then acquire an All-Star Infielder, and then put him in the outfield? Why already have a great outfield – AJ in LF, Taylor in CF, and Betts in RF. I agree that Cody needs to go to AAA. But Trea Turner needs to bolster the lineup and play either 2B or SS.

  2. If the front office says all its want to do is win, that is what they said , well they need to tell ROBERTS to start putting the best of players in to play , his decisions to continue to play Bellinger and use Jansen as he has been , will soon cause the team to question his moves . ( sure they have many times before ) I think they have had enough of the outcome of games they should have won but lost it is getting them very frustrated, having very little confidence in a so called closer…. C…loser, who takes forever to end a game ,look up Closer and at this time and the past few years Jansen is not one , and Bellinger is not who he once was at this time ,so the best of the lineup is not there,and depriving some who should be playing.

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