When are the Dodgers going to bring Corey Seager up?
Before giving that question the ol' college try, here's why we're asking...
As you've no doubt heard, there's lately been a bumper crop of super-prospects reaching the majors. Last winter, these were Baseball Prospectus's top 10 hitting prospects:
1. Byron Buxton
2. Addison Russell
3. Carlos Correa
4. Francisco Lindor
5. Kris Bryant
6. Corey Seager
7. Miguel Sano
8. Joey Gallo
9. Blake Swihart
10. Joc Pederson
Well, only Seager and Sano aren't currently playing in the majors. And Sano's still down in Class AA (not that that's stopped some of these other guys, including his Double-A teammate Buxton). Granted, with the Twins three or four bats short of a good lineup, Sano's time is probably coming soon.
Will Seager beat him to the bigs, though? Well, that depends largely on not only Seager, but also two or three guys in the majors.
Seager's a shortstop by trade, and the Dodgers' every-day shortstop -- 36-year-old Jimmy Rollins, of course -- has been utterly dreadful this season, the worst of his distinguished career.
Is Rollins really so dreadful, though? His strikeout rate's higher than usual, and his hard-hit percentage is about six points lower than his career rate. These are negative markers. But he's coming off a pretty good 2014, and his BABiP is by far the worst of his career. We shouldn't expect Rollins to hit like gangbusters from this point, but we can expect him, if healthy, to fare substantially better.
Seager could presumably play third base, too. With the trade of Juan Uribe, the Dodgers have been going with Alberto Callaspo and Justin Turner at third base, and both have been solid enough. Actually, Turner's been better than solid; he's having the best year of his pro career. And we might expect the Dodgers to ride that for as long as they can.
With another team, Seager would probably be up already. But with this team, I think we shan't see him until somebody gets hurt or Rollins keeps hitting in lousy luck.
