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LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers season just keeps adding obstacles. The latest is shortstop Corey Seager, who has a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery. He’s out for the rest of the 2018 season, and was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Monday.
Seager is the fourth Dodgers regular on the DL, joining third baseman Justin Turner, infielder Logan Forsythe and outfielder Yasiel Puig, with Turner having yet to play this season with a fracture in his left wrist.
Seager was affected the last five weeks of the 2017 season with elbow inflammation and struggled down the stretch. The club opted for rest and treatment in the offseason in hopes of avoiding surgery.
The Dodgers were very cautious with Seager during spring training, limiting his action as he worked his way back from the elbow inflammation, which was said to affect him more in the field than at the plate.
In the weekend series in San Francisco Seager was 5-for-14 with a home run and he has a six-game hitting streak. Seager is hitting .267/.348/.396 with two home runs and five doubles in 26 games on the season.
Seager had a couple bad throws over the weekend that caused numbness including the relay throw home on Austin Jackson double.
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) April 30, 2018
After his last MRI, at the beginning of the last off-season, TJ was not discussed as an option, Seager said. Didn’t seek alternative treatments either. Full story coming soon.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) April 30, 2018
.@coreyseager_5 shares his initial thoughts about missing the remainder of the 2018 #Dodgers season with @alannarizzo. pic.twitter.com/6CxXmoFCsf
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 30, 2018
Farhan Zaidi said that Tommy John and non-TJ options were considered for Seager last year. Sounds like the team considered them more than the player. But a 9-12 month TJ recovery from the beginning of November didn’t appeal to either party.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 1, 2018
Zaidi said the club will stay in-house at shortstop "for the time being," but acknowledged an acquisition as a possibility.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 1, 2018
With Seager out, Chris Taylor moves from center field to shortstop on Monday, and Kiké Hernandez starts in center field.
The Dodgers called up utility man Breyvic Valera from Triple-A Oklahoma City for his second stint with the club this season, after getting acquired from St. Louis on April 1. Valera was up earlier in the month and appeared in both games he was active as a pinch hitter, going 0-for-1 with a walk.
Starting lineups
| Pos | Dodgers | Pos | D-backs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Dodgers | Pos | D-backs |
| SS | Taylor | LF | Peralta (L) |
| 2B | Utley (L) | RF | Dyson (L) |
| C | Grandal (S) | 1B | Goldschmidt |
| 1B | Bellinger (L) | CF | Pollock |
| LF | Pederson (L) | 3B | Descalso (L) |
| RF | Verdugo (L) | 2B | Owings |
| CF | Hernandez | SS | Ahmed |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | C | Mathis |
| P | Stripling | P | Greinke |
The switch-hitter reached base by hit or walk in 16 of his 17 games in Triple-A, hitting .373/.459/.549 with three doubles, two home runs and nine walks while starting games at second base, shortstop and third base.
Valera homered on Sunday and drove in the go-ahead run in Oklahoma City’s 12th straight home win to start the season.
Still early
Joc Pederson has reached base in each of his last six games, which included three games he didn’t start and two that he entered in the seventh inning. He starts in left field in the opener in Phoenix, having gone 4-for-12 (.333) with three doubles, a home run and two walks against Greinke.
If you ever wanted to know just how early we are in the season, take a look at Pederson’s game logs. After Tuesday’s game against Miami his OPS was .616, but now just five games later Pederson’s OPS is .832, hitting .286/.403/.429.
Pederson in his last 16 plate appearances has eight hits — including a double and a triple — and four walks.
Arizona move
The Diamondbacks made a roster move before the series opener, placing starter Robbie Ray on the disabled list with a strained right oblique. Ray was not scheduled to pitch in this series.
Relief pitcher Silvino Bracho was recalled from Triple-A Reno.