What do Dodgers do at third if Justin Turner’s knee injury is serious?

Maybe, probably, this never becomes an issue. Justin Turner takes a week off, his knee recovers and he returns as the Dodgers’ everyday third baseman during the final week of the season and continues into the playoffs.

What if takes longer? Or he comes back and then it buckles, this time ending his season.

Who takes over as the Dodgers’ regular third baseman?

“I’m not quite sure what we’d do there,” said Manager Don Mattingly.

The easiest solution would be to slide Corey Seager over from shortstop. In his first 16 games he been rather remarkable, putting up a .379/.478/.603 slash line. Seager, however, is a shortstop who has played only 20 of his 360 minor league games at third and two of his 16 with the Dodgers.

Although Seager has been unflappable, the pressure and glare of the postseason spotlight can be present another challenge for a young player.

If the Dodgers want a veteran presence at third, they have Chase Utley. At least they hope they do. Monday night Utley is making his first career start at third. This comes at age 36 and after having played more than 1,500 games in the majors.

“We’ve been working towards this and Wally [coach Tim Wallach] felt like his last time was his best out there,” Mattingly said. “We don’t worry about him. He knows how to play, knows where to be. It seemed like tonight was the right night.”

Utley, however, has not been tearing it up at the plate since arriving from the Phillies. In 92 at-bats with the Dodgers he has a .206/.291/.359 slash line. That puts his on-base plus slugging percentages at .650 -- or .432 points behind Seager (1.082).

Enrique Hernandez (hamstring) is scheduled to head to the team’s training complex Tuesday for a final tuneup before joining the Dodgers. Mattingly expects him back shortly. Hernandez can play all over the field but has played third only once this season.

“He’s been good everywhere we’ve put him,” Mattingly said. “Obviously we haven’t seen him [at third] as much because we haven’t needed to. But anywhere I put him on the field, it seems like he can do the job.”

Alex Guerrero has played third, but the Dodgers’ confidence level in his defense is what you’d might call on the low side.

If Turner and Rollins are both injury-free for the postseason, Mattingly will have to work to find playing time for Seager. In theory the left-handed-hitting Seager could platoon at third with the right-handed hitting Turner, but Turner is actually hitting right-handed pitchers better (.313) than he does left-handed pitchers (.230) this season.