Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers
It’d be easy to forget about Corey Seager for a moment. After all, he accumulated just 115 plate appearances last year prior to needing Tommy John surgery. Then, Manny Machado took all the attention at shortstop for his short stint in Los Angeles.
There was a good reason why the Dodgers didn’t even get themselves involved in the Machado sweepstakes. Seager will be turning just 25 years old in April and already has two seasons of 5.0 fWAR production under his belt. Something that seemed like it would stick if his 2018 season wasn’t cut short was a rise in walk rate.
Seager’s 2016 Rookie of the Year performance led to a 7.9% walk rate, but that number improved to 10.9% the following year. At the time he went on the injured list last season, he was still generating walks at a 9.6% clip. All signs are pointing to Seager having a mostly normal spring training and being LA’s starting shortstop on Opening Day, which is good news for everyone.
This will be a crucial year for him to continue reminding everyone he’s one of baseball’s best shortstops. He earned a big raise in his first year of arbitration ($4 million), but 2019 will be important for the next two times he goes through that same process prior to hitting free agency.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
