He's coming!
It was reported this morning, via
twitter by Jon Heyman, that the Dodgers #1 prospect Corey Seager is coming up to the Show.
This hasn't been made official yet, but has been confirmed elsewhere. I don't know if he'll make it to San Diego in time for tonight's game; considering his Triple-AAA teams division clinching victory last night. Surely, he'll be there by Friday.
The former first round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2012 (18th overall) is the younger brother of Mariner infielder Kyle Seager, so he has some Baseball bloodlines. He is 21-years old, stands 6'4" tall, weights 215 lbs, and bats left-handed but throws right-handed. Seager currently plays shortstop in Oklahoma City, but is projected to be our everyday thirdbaseman in the future.
I suspect with the number of injuries we've had lately on the infield he'll primarily serve as a backup shortstop (and possibly thirdbaseman) for the remainder of the season. We will no doubt get a chance to see his bat off the bench in later innings. Per
Bill Shaikin on twitter, you should expect to see a lot of Seager:
Currently, he ranks high on just about everybody's prospect list. Seager is the #1 overall prospect at
Baseball America,
Baseball Prospectus,
Keith Law's list at ESPN and
Kiley McDaniel's list at FanGraphs.
MLB ranks him #2 overall. Via
Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com:
Seager has a very advanced approach at the plate, especially for his
age, and doesn't strike out much for someone with his power potential.
He has a smooth and balanced swing, uses all fields well and has both
bat speed and strength.
In celebration of Seager's promotion to the Dodgers I made the above fantasy card
for him. I used a
photograph from Spring Training taken by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015 and the 1972 Topps Baseball card
design.
Below are his career minor league stats, via
Baseball-Reference:
UDPATE: The Dodgers just made it official. Below is the press release. BTW, the Dodgers have also called up reliever Yimi Garcia:
The Los Angeles Dodgers today selected the contract of infielder Corey Seager (#5) and recalled right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia (#63) from Triple-A Oklahoma City, increasing the number of players on their active roster to 33. To create room for Seager on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles designated infielder Andy Wilkins for assignment.
Seager, 21, will be making his Major League debut in his fourth professional season after being selected by the Dodgers in the first round (18th overall) in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Seager, who is rated by Baseball America as baseball’s top overall prospect, combined to hit .293 with 37 doubles, 18 home runs and 76 RBI in 125 minor league games this year with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he was selected a midseason Pacific Coast League All-Star. In the field, Seager has combined to appear in 104 games at shortstop and 19 games at third base this year. He was selected as the Dodgers’ 2014 Branch Rickey Minor League co-Player of the Year and, in four minor league campaigns, the North Carolina native has a .307 batting average with 62 homers and 278 RBI in 390 games.
Garcia, 25, has gone 3-3 with one save and a 3.55 ERA in 46 relief appearances in three stints with the Dodgers this year. He’s limited opponents to a .212 batting average with 58 strikeouts against just nine walks in 45.2 innings, while posting a 0.99 WHIP.
Wilkins was acquired from Toronto on May 3 in exchange for cash considerations and batted .249 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 105 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
