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Corey Seager on Thursday was 0-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly in the series finale against the Cubs, his 81st career game played. That is the equivalent of half of a full major league season, so let's see how he measures up against other Dodgers in the start to his career.
Where Seager most stands out is in his 20 doubles to date. That's a 40-double pace over a full season, something no Dodgers shortstop has ever done, rookie or otherwise.
Seager's 20 doubles through 81 career games is tied for sixth-most by a Dodger since 1913 (tied with Willy Aybar!). The leaders here are the usual Dodgers rookie production heroes — Johnny Frederick in 1929 (27 doubles), Gabby Brack in 1937 (25 doubles), and Babe Herman in 1926 (24 doubles).
With 12 of his 13 career home runs as a shortstop, Seager is positioning himself to top the franchise power leaderboards at the position. Only two Dodgers since 1913 have hit more than three home runs as a shortstop in their first 81 career games — Pee Wee Reese with five homers in 1940, an Seager with 12.
Seager has scored 48 runs, just shy of becoming the 12th Dodger since 1913 to score 50 runs in their first 81 games. Frederick scored 69 runs in his first 81 games, one more than Jackie Robinson in 1947.
Among all Dodgers in their first 81 career games, since 1913, Seager also ranks:
14th with 92 hits (Frederick is tops with 114)
8th with 13 home runs, same as Mike Piazza (Del Bissonette leads with 18 homers, in 1928; Frank Howard and Joc Pederson are tied for second with 17)
tied for 10th with 45 RBI, sames as Andre Ethier and Ron Cey (Bissonette leads with 72)
15th with an .856 OPS (Bissonette is on top at .983, followed by Herman at .975)
While his .294/.361/.495 line is impressive, Seager can turn to a pair in his own clubhouse for advice on an even quicker start. Yasiel Puig in his first 81 games hit .350/.409/.562, and Ethier hit .352/.398/.568. Just wait until the Dodgers' lineup gets those two back this year!
Wait, what? He has been? All year? Really?