Dodgers: Dave Roberts Thinks Corey Seager is Playing Like an MVP Candidate
It’s really easy to heap praise on Corey Seager, especially when he has a night like he did on Thursday. Seager went 3-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs, but also almost hit for the cycle against Colorado. The Dodgers went on to win that game and move to 4 games above the Padres in the NL West.
On the year, Seager has shown that he can be the guy in big situations. Batting right behind Mookie Betts in the lineup has proven time and time again to be a lethal offensive combination for opposing pitching. Putting Betts’ speed with Seager’s ability to drive balls in the gap really puts the Dodgers in a good spot at the top of their lineup.
Dave Roberts recognizes the amazing strides that Seager has taken this year in coming back from two years of injuries. In fact, Roberts believes the Dodgers’ shortstop is playing like an MVP candidate in 2020. He talked about it after the game on Thursday night.
He’s playing like an MVP. He won the Rookie of the Year a few years ago and now he’s playing like an MVP.
Seager’s overall stat line might show that he’s playing like an MVP candidate, but WAR is not in his favor. Fangraphs has Seager ranked as the number 36 WAR in all of baseball at just a 1.5 mark. The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts is 3rd with a 2.5 WAR.
Still, slashing .309/.357/.602 with an OPS of .959 is nothing to scoff at. With 13 homeruns and 26 extra-base hits overall, Seager really is putting together a great year for the Dodgers. It is MVP worthy? Well, that remains to be seen.
Dodgers Highlights: Urias Recovers, Seager Smooth, Mookie Does Mookie Things
I could not believe this winter that people wanted to trade Seager for Lindor. Seager is finally injury free and showing why he is one of the most important players on the Dodgers. I do understand that Lindor is a dynamic player. But how much better is he than Seager and what would he cost?
Very glad Seager is playing so well.
Now if they could just get Bellinger, Muncy, Pederson and Lux to fix their issues.
Defensive metrics have never been Seager’s friend, so his WAR is deflated. But he clearly has been “clutch” at the plate this year thus far. He has usually tailed off in the postseason (as had nearly the entire Dodgers team) so it remains to be seen how October will go. The Dodgers will face a big decision after next season. It may also help when he permanently moves to third base, most likely next year. If the Dodgers retain Turner – and I hope they do – it will be as a DH and not a position player.
Quick add, for what it’s worth in the Small Sample Size Theater of 2020, Lindor’s fielding stats are only marginally better than Seager’s and Seager’s offensive stats are significantly better.
Seager’s post season stats are arguably misleading. He was called up a month before in ’15, did so so in 11 games in ’16, and played with an injury in ’17 – he sat out NLCS against Chicago because of it. He was awful in the 5 games against the Nats in ’19 but I can’t write him off against that pitching in a short series.
Defensively he has always been very good but, because he’s not flashy, he gets discredited by the eye test. He should compare favorably to Cal Ripken when done but he’ll likely finish with another team because he’s represented by Boras.
There’s accuracy in Robert’s thinking about how Seager is playing but let’s not have zRobrts thinking too much over all in regards to how he manages the pitching. Especially in October. As far as Bellinger and Muncy are concerned. They are a far cry from their performance in 2019.
In order to stay relevant with LAD and SD, I predict SF and Farhan to acquire Lindor this offseason. Meanwhile, I’m fine with Seager.
I have liked Seager since he first came up. He maintained a 300 BA from that time to the TJ surgery. Now fully healthy he is exceeding that level. I’m glad to finally agree with Dave Roberts on something. Seager has always been on the cusp of being an MVP candidate. Now he is a true MVP candidate. I don’t know when he will actually win one, but if he can stay healthy, I predict that he will win one. I sound like a broken record on this one, but he has one of best looking swings I have ever seen. Ken Griffy Jr had the best swing, and it was powerful, giving a small guy the ability to go deep. Seager’s swing is more smooth and graceful, but since he is big and strong, a lot of his contact goes deep. He doesn’t try to jack it out of the park, it just happens naturally, and most often to the opposite field.