The Dodgers April 20-RBI club

Corey Seager is having an April to remember, and the Dodgers’ weekend series against the Phillies beginning Friday night at Dodger Stadium includes the final three games of the month.

Seager homered in each of the last two games against the Giants in San Francisco, and heading into Friday night is hitting .318/.398/.565 with five home runs and 17 runs batted in.

Those 17 RBI match Seager’s career-best for a month, tying his first month ever in the big leagues, September (and three games in October) 2015.

Runs batted in are a little harder to come by for Seager since he always bats second instead of third or fourth. His 17 RBI are the second-most by a second-place hitter in 2017, trailing only Eric Thames, who has 19 RBI to go with his 11 home runs in his amazing comeback tour after three years in the KBO.

Seager going 9-for-20 (.450) with runners in scoring position has helped a great deal, with 11 of his 17 RBI coming from those situations.

Should Seager drive home three or more runs this weekend against Philadelphia, he would join a rather select group. Only 20 Dodgers have ever driven in 20 runs in April, the last Adrian Gonzalez in 2014.

Seasons used to start much later than they do now, more in the middle of April than the beginning. The 1957 season opened on April 16, for instance. So any older season that shows up on this list is even more impressive.

Roy Campanella drove in 22 runs in 14 games in April 1953 for Brooklyn. Six years later, the team moved west, and Don Demeter had 21 RBI in 14 games in April.

There are two real standout Aprils in Dodgers history. The first is Ron Cey, who 40 years ago went nuts, hitting nine home runs while driving in 29 runs in only 20 games, hitting a robust .425/.543/.890. The Dodgers started 17-3.

Those 29 RBI still stand as a Dodgers record for April. The nine home runs were a franchise record for April for 23 years, until Gary Sheffield hit 10 in 2000. But the other standout April goes to the current holder of the franchise home runs record for the month.

Matt Kemp was at the top of his game in April 2012. He was fresh off a 39-homer, 40-steal season that saw him nearly win an MVP award in 2011, then started the next season even better. Kemp hit .417/.490/.893 and drove in 25 runs in 23 games in April 2012, hitting a whopping 12 home runs. The Dodgers started 16-7.

Kemp drove in 20 runs in two separate Aprils, one of three Dodgers to do so, along with Andre Ethier and Mike Piazza (three times).

Seager last season was 11-for-26 against the Phillies, hitting .423/.464/.764 in six games while driving in three runs.

He was 2-for-3 against right-hander Jerad Eickhoff, starting for the Phillies on Friday night.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA