Former Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger, Corey Seager, finished the Dodgers’ magical 2017 season with a sore elbow and back that limited his throwing and ultimately, his playing time. He didn’t take part in the NLCS against the Cubs. Reactivated for the World Series, Seager batted a measly .222 – probably due as much to his ailing body as the Houston Astros pitching staff. There were ominous rumbles afterward that he would need offseason surgery.
Seager opted not to go under the knife, and he reported to Spring Training with statements that everything was hunky-dory.
“I feel good, I did all the rehab, all that stuff. Started a throwing program in January so I will be a little delayed just with the throwing program. But the back feels good. Everything is all right.” – Corey Seager
The Dodgers and their faithful breathed a sigh of relief, but there were those among us (including your crack LADR analysts) who held our collected breath and hoped the rubber bands would hold.
They didn’t.
When news broke that Seager was being shut down for the season, and he would undergo Tommy John surgery, the lines lit up with folks angry at Seager for not having surgery immediately after the season. At least one popular Twitteree filled a thread with firebombs tossed at Corey for his not having the surgery sooner, and blaming him for dealing a blow to the Dodgers’ already lackluster 2018 season and pushing his recovery into 2019.
Please.
Give the kid a break. I’m sure Seager didn’t try to get by without going under the knife because he was selfish or stupid or any of the other words being tossed at him. It’s probably something a lot simpler than that. Seager may have simply been afraid.
Who wants to be operated on? Do you relish the thought of being placed under anesthesia and being cut open? I don’t. Would you rush into surgery only to have your career possibly ended? I wouldn’t. If your doctor thought there was a chance surgery could be avoided, would you brush that aside and push for the drastic procedure? I wouldn’t.
How many of us put off just going to the doctor or dentist due of fear of the unknown? Seager doesn’t owe anyone surgery. Do you think because you buy a ticket and a hot dog, or tweet, or rant in comment sections, that athletes personally owe it to you to go under the knife?
Corey Seager did what thousands of us do every day. He put off a scary procedure and hoped therapy or a different treatment might avert the need for being flayed like a fish. It didn’t work out and now he will undergo the invasive treatment. I don’t envy him.
Chances are he’ll recover, but it will be a long time before any of us know how well. Rather than toss blame at the guy, we should be sending support. That’s the road I’m taking.
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Not his call.
If a player needs reconstruction, the procedure should be done immediately or 5 minutes after the season ends. This, like so many other weltschmerz misgivings falls on FAZKasten. Hire a better medical and training staff. This should have been handled in November.
Badger
I understand your disappointment with Corey but in this case he is accountable for his physical wellbeing . No Front Office is going to demand any surgery without the player agreeing. Believe me, I hate FAZ but this does not fall on them. It falls squarely on Corey. He has hurt his team and let them down. If he had agreed to it after the W.S. it would have been on FAZ to replace him but he did not. Now there is no replacement worth a dime and things are pretty bad right now.
Another question Badger, at what point do they play Matt Kemp. He pinch hit last night for an single and RBI. Why would one put the best hitter on the bench?
Why do they have a medical staff if not for medical decisions? You’re also suggesting players put themselves on the DL. It’s a medical decision made by the medical team. Those guys were interviewed and hired by Dodgers management.
At what point do they play Kemp? Tonight.
This team still has plenty of left fielders. If Kemp is only going to get 350 at bats I want most of them to happen from mid August to late October.
It’s a long season pack. We must show some patience.
Badger
Yes they have a medical staff but those people are not entitled to do work on your body without your permission. They cannot just say “Well your elbow is bad and you will have to have TJ surgery” and if Corey says “No lets wait and see if it will heal on its own” guess what happens? That is right, we wait. No I am not saying as a player you get to decide whether or not you go on the DL. That is a club decision whether or not you play but working on your body is another story.
I get your point.
It’s my opinion that if you are told you need Tommy John, by at least 2 experts, and you choose not to do it, you’re a f’n idiot. Corey is not stupid. Had he been told last year he needed it, done it, who knows where we would be now.
I felt they should have taken a hard look at the elbow problem right after the Series. I am no doctor, but it was obvious he was not himself and that the problem was not fixed. I can understand fear if it was a major thing like his back. But TJ surgery is so very common now, and also is so very successful that being worried about your career should not be a major concern. I have had 4 surgery’s in my life. 2 were minor and the other two were serious. I had good doctors and I was confident in their knowledge and skill. The Dodgers have one of the best surgeons as their major medical expert. So there should be little fear in working on a bum elbow. It is not life threatening after all. But like Badger said, it was not Corey’s call. He was no doubt advised by the medical staff that it could be fixed with the rehab route. Most TJ recipients come back strong. Especially with all the knowledge on the procedure that surgeons now have. It is the re-hab that is the hardest part.
What blame? We’re talking what? Three weeks?
In the larger scope, how does that matter?
Surgery is serious stuff. Traumatic stuff for the body, avoid it at all costs.
You lost me with “at all cost”.
3 weeks? 10 months from now puts him starting spring training. That is the optimal recovery time.
If he would have had surgery 12/1/17…..March 1, 2019 would have been 15 months away. A big difference.
And the team could have made preparations for him being out throughout 2018.
How many players have avoided surgery and ended up healing on their own, never needing surgery?
Well put Chili.
I agree!
Matt Kemp in RF! We’ve gone backward in time. And the memories weren’t very good. Hopefully he has a good game.
As far as Seager just rotten luck. Oh well we got a game tonight!
And the celebrated Dodger bullpen blows another effen lead……Kershaw will be lucky to win 5 games with this batch of clods behind him.
Kershaw did not pitch especially well again, but certainly the blame can be put on the bullpen for blowing this one. And, we can extend that blame to the hapless bats who could not sustain the earlier momentum and knockout Az before their own bats kicked in. There is no way to beat Az without good pitching. They are a better team than our boys, better balanced, and the chemistry is working for them.
While Kershaw is still a good pitcher, he is just not the same guy this year.
He made 2 bad pitches and it cost him. I agree he is not the Kershaw of the past. Most disturbing to me was the fact that he had exactly 2 clean innings. Every other inning there were runners on base or a HR. Bullpen is a mess, offense got 4 hits…..this team sucks big time right now. At least the loss went where it was deserved, to the guy that blew it. Question, Paredes was just called up, how come the fresh arm stayed in the pen. By the way, that Cobb guy no one thought they should sign pitched one hell of a game yesterday, his weak assed Oriole offense let him down too….and Verlander who the Dodgers did not go after at the deadline K’d 14 yesterday