Of the 14 Los Angeles Dodgers players currently on the injured list, three are everyday players and one — Corey Seager — still faces a long road ahead.
Seager sustained a fractured fifth metacarpal in his right hand after being hit by a pitch on May 15, and he was placed on the 10-day IL the following day. Surgery is not required, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts projected Seager would miss a minimum of four weeks.
Although the 27-year-old is limited in workouts, the Dodgers are taking every measure possible to keep Seager in shape and active during his recovery. He was on the field at Dodger Stadium before Thursday’s game against the San Francisco Giants with a splint-like covering rather than a cast on the right hand.
“I know Brandon McDaniel stayed back with him and got the conditioning part of things, the leg work, glove work, which is great,” Roberts said. “I think the overall plan is once he’s healthy enough to come back and play games, we just want him to hit the ground running.
“Corey is definitely on that plan. He’s just such a great worker.”
Roberts had previously indicated Seager was also taking one-handed swings and would likely utilize the team’s virtual machine that allows batters to track pitches in a video-game like setting.
Dodgers cautious with Pollock
One night before Seager was hit by a pitch, AJ Pollock aggravated a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in his first game back. Pollock went one week without making a start when he suffered the first strain, but avoided a stint on the IL due to steady improvement.
The Dodgers now plan to exercise a bit more caution. “With a player like AJ, you still have to have that dialogue. I think he’s earned it,” Roberts acknowledged. “But certainly, it wasn’t ideal to have him come back and the first day re-injure that hamstring. We’ll continue to talk.
“I believe in the training staff and with the right information and conversations, we’ll do what’s best for AJ.”
Pollock was running the bases on Thursday and may soon advance to taking at-bats. “I think we’ve got to have that conversation with AJ, just looking at how much time he’s missed and the at-bats as far as what he needs to go out and play,” Roberts said.
“Is it live ABs, simulated, or going out there to OKC and playing baseball games? Certainly a step in the right direction, though.”
Should Pollock be sent out on a rehab assignment, Roberts estimated it would only be for three or four games.
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