What’s the one thing that could prevent the Dodgers from winning the pennant? If you guessed injuries then you win the prize. Ok so there is no prize here. According to the internet and the Dodgers, shortstop Corey Seager will not play in the NLCS. He’s not even on the NLCS roster which was just released this morning. The Dodgers brushed his injury under the rug, being very hush-hush about it.
Apparently Seager hurt his back sliding into a base during the Dodger’s game 3 win over the Dbacks in the NLDS. We were so busy with the celebration that we hardly noticed. Roberts was very noncommittal during the days in between the NLDS and NLCS. He had said that Seager would be held out of workouts and he was for the last couple of days. Roberts said at one point that he was pretty sure Seager would play. I guess his back worsened. The injury is described as a muscular thing. Maybe he’ll be ready for the World Series? Who knows?
What this means is that the Dodgers must now use a combination of Enrique Hernandez and Charlie Culberson at shortstop. They’ve added Joc Pederson to the roster because they needed another outfielder during the shuffle. The problem is Hernandez can only hit left handers, and Culberson can’t hit lefties, righties, or middlies.
I’m assuming that Hernandez would play short at least against the left handers, and either Joc plays center with Chris Taylor sliding over to left, or Curtis Granderson or Andre Ethier will get some playing time against right handers. I guess we’ll see soon. The Dodger’s roster has them carrying 11 pitchers. The rotation will remain the same with Clayton Kershaw pitching tonight in game 1. Rich Hill will start game 2 on Sunday, and Yu Darvish will take the mound in game 3 at Wrigley Field. Alex Wood is scheduled to start game 4.
As for the Cubs, they’ll start Jose Quintana tonight against Kershaw. Reliever Justin Wilson was left off the roster because he’s just been awful for them apparently. The Cubs are also carrying 11 pitchers. Here is the Dodger’s roster below.
#ThisTeam: NLCS Edition pic.twitter.com/Yj18PLJFiQ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 14, 2017
It’s a tough break losing Seager, but the Dodgers will have to go on. They’ve dealt with injuries before, so this is nothing new. Seager batted .273 in the NLDS (3 for 11) with 3 runs scored, and four walks. He had a triple and drove in two runs in the three games. Seager hit 22 home runs during the regular season and posted an OPS of .854.
The best team does not always win the World Series.
Shit happens.
Injuries happen.
Mediocre players turn into very good ones.
Playoffs are random.
The Dodgers were the best team in baseball. I enjoyed the season.
I hope and think they will win the World Series. I’ll enjoy the playoff regardless.
Bluto
You are lucky that you are geared like that, but not everyone is.
I hope for God’s sake that we don’t get a lineup that includes Grandull, Granderson and Joc in it at one time, that will be no bueno .
Taylor can easily play SS. The biggest issue with Seager’s absence is not his defense it is who the hell can do adequately batting second. Due to his ability to work the count and make good quality at bats you may very likely see a lot of Utley batting in the 2 hole. There really aren’t a lot of options for that 2 hole. This might scare some of you but the best option for the 2 hole may actually be Puig. He has been working the count, he has been having good quality at bats and he hasn’t been striking out much lately. Plus he can fly.
You guys ready?
Lineups posted with new posts
https://ladodgerreport.com/nlcs-game-1-lineups-cubsdodgers/
This really puts a different spin on things, for sure. With lefty pitchers being thrown at us, the Dodgers will have to dig deep to come out of their funk against lefties, without Seager, and bats to replace him.
Kershaw just gave up a 2 run HR. He continues to be losing his control and is being relied on too much for supremacy in the pitching duels. He is not the same player he was at the start of the season, but I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. The real battles will be fought by the other starters to pull this series out of the losing bin.
Strange that the Seager business was hush hush. Now we’ll see what we are really made of.
Didn’t Ron Darling make everyone sick?
The entire TBS broadcasting crew sucks. Not just Darling. He is pretty bad though.
Give the FO some credit:
The First 4 Dodgers relievers to appear tonight — Cingrani, Maeda, Morrow, Watson — were not in LA bullpen during 2016 NLCS.
Ok. Ok. Maeda is a bit of a cheat.
Bluto
I think the front office deserves credit for Morrow and Cingrani this year, and Maeda too.