Dodgers place shortstop Corey Seager on 10-day injured list
The Dodgers placed shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a left hamstring strain, an injury he suffered in the ninth inning of the team’s loss to the Angels on Tuesday. The club activated first baseman and left fielder Matt Beaty from the injured list to replace Seager on the roster.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts labeled the severity of Seager’s strain as “Grade 1-slash-2.” The scale ranges from Grade 1 to 3, with Grade 3 being the most severe.
Neither Roberts nor Seager offered a timetable for recovery, but he will likely miss several weeks. Roberts said he doesn’t envision Seager “thinking” about beginning any activities for “four, five, six days.”
Seager, 25, was still walking gingerly Thursday and said the hamstring remained sore. The next step, he explained, was eliminating the swelling.
“The worst part about these is it’s hard to put a timetable on them,” Seager said. “You could feel really good tomorrow and it gets quicker or it could linger for a while. It’s kind of the waiting game.”
Seager said the injury surfaced without warning. He hadn’t felt any pain until his hamstring gave out as he sprinted to third base Tuesday. He said he sustained a “partial tear” of the same hamstring in 2013 and focuses on strengthening the hamstring throughout the year.
“That’s kind of one of the things that bothered me the most,” Seager said. “[It] was the ninth inning, I was loose, I was ready. It’s not like it was early in the game and you weren’t fully stretched or anything. I was totally fine. I was totally loose. Nothing was even really bothering me.”
The setback arose just as Seager had rediscovered his form after undergoing elbow and hip surgeries that limited him to 26 games last season. From May 21 through Wednesday, Seager ranked in the top across the majors in batting average (.382), on-base-plus-slugging-percentage (1.118) and doubles (10). Only Mike Trout had posted a higher FanGraphs wins above replacement than Seager’s 1.5.
“It sucks. It was a long road last year,” Seager said. “I was feeling good, feeling healthy, getting back out there every night. To take a blow like this, it hurts. I was kind of enjoying playing again.”
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Pollock ready for next step
Outfielder A.J. Pollock had a peripherally inserted central catheter removed from his left bicep and was cleared to resume baseball activities, Roberts said.
Pollock has been on the injured list since late April after getting his right elbow infected and undergoing surgery on the elbow to remove a metal screw that was inserted during a previous procedure in 2016.
The 31-year-old Pollock wasn’t permitted to sweat while the PICC line was in his arm so he didn’t do any cardio exercises and his strength training sessions were limited. Last week, Roberts said he thought Pollock would need “40 to 50” at-bats before returning to the Dodgers.
Freese dealing with knee tendinitis
David Freese made his first start in nearly a week Thursday as he deals with tendinitis in his left knee.
“Part of us managing David is picking spots to run him out there and it is still an issue — that right knee,” Roberts said.
Freese, 36, entered Thursday batting .300 with seven home runs and a 1.027 OPS in 120 plate appearances this season.
Twitter: @jorgecastillo
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