By Jon Weisman
Since coming to the big leagues, Corey Seager has been amazing grace.
He’s 21 years old with a .508 on-base percentage and .647 slugging percentage. He can play shortstop at 6-foot-4 (and maybe more). He has walked more than he has struck out. He has extra-base hits in more than half his games. He is hitting lefties with authority.
How. Is. This. Happening?
If you ask Seager, he isn’t quite sure himself, though we pressed him for answers after tonight’s 6-2 Dodger victory, in which he hit his second home run and the Dodgers’ record 47th by a rookie.
On adjusting to the Majors so rapidly:
“Luck,” Seager said. “I don’t know. There’s always an adjustment. There’s so much more information up here, you can kind of shorten that adjustment period, because you kind of have an idea what’s coming.”
On drawing walks more frequently than he did in the minors.
“I really don’t know,” he said. “Everybody’s better up here. That’s not the right wording. Everybody’s a tick better, everybody’s balls are a bit closer. Umpires are better, pitchers are better. It’s one of those things where everybody’s better, and if it’s off, it’s off. You have (comfort) up there at the plate.”
On facing lefties:
“I don’t know if I really have a secret against them. I don’t see it any different (than) I do righties. It’s the same approach, same everything. … I just try not to make it a mental thing that it’s a lefty. I just try to have the same approach, left vs. right. Kind of stick with that. You’re gonna have success or you’re gonna fail.”
For Seager, it’s a lot more from Column A, in this breakout start to his career.
Comments are closed.