Seager homers in his return; Kershaw discusses end of streak and road back
by Cary Osborne
In-his long awaited return, Corey Seager nearly drove the second pitch he saw out of the park. Instead, he drove the fourth pitch he saw out.
Seager, in his first game back since April 29, 2018, and first of Cactus League play, homered in his second plate appearance on Wednesday against Chicago Cubs left-hander Cole Hamels. Seager, on an 0–1 count in the top of the third inning, hit a Hamels pitch a third of the way up the hill beyond the fence at Sloan Park in Mesa — the Cubs’ Spring Training home.
This was after Seager, in the top of the first inning, hit the second pitch he saw to the warning track in left-center field.
He also hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, driving in Justin Turner.
“It was fun, adrenaline, and excitement and all of that,” Seager said of his return.
He said he was able to play without concern for his surgically repaired right elbow and left hip. And he passed one test in the field, where he played six innings on Wednesday.
In the bottom of the second inning, he turned a double play, coming across the bag to grab a throw from Kiké Hernández at second base with Kris Bryant charging in, and throwing Anthony Rizzo out at first base. It was the kind of play manager Dave Roberts said Seager injured his elbow on.
Seager said the throw, with the angle in which he made it, was a big confidence boost.
“That was kind of one of those throws that would have really bothered me before and didn’t really have anything (bothersome) at all,” Seager said. “So it was kind of nice to keep making different plays at different angles and stuff and kind of keep checking those boxes.”
In the top of the fourth, he committed an error attempting to field a ground ball off the bat of Javier Báez.
Urías Relieves, May Starts
Julio Urías was originally scheduled to start on Wednesday. Instead it was top pitching prospect Dustin May who got the start with Urías entering the game in relief in the fifth inning.
Manager Dave Roberts told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo that Urías’ path to the Opening Day roster is through the bullpen.
Urías went 2 2/3 innings and allowed three hits, one walk and two earned runs. He struck out two batters and retired seven of the first eight batters he faced. He tallied 51 pitches.
May went three innings and allowed three hits, one walk, one earned run and struck out three. The Dodgers’ №3 prospect has allowed one run in nine Cactus League innings over four games. On Wednesday, he allowed an RBI single to Hamels and later singled off Hamels.
The Dodgers and Cubs played to a 4–4 tie.
Kershaw Throws to Hitters
For Clayton Kershaw, Spring Training restarted on Wednesday.
The Dodgers’ ace threw 22 pitches to hitters, who didn’t swing. The next step is he will throw two innings to live hitters on Monday in Anaheim before the Freeway Series game.
Kershaw threw his full mix on Wednesday and said he felt good afterward. However, he said likely starting the regular season on the injured list, and thus ending a streak of eight straight Opening Day starts, stings.
“Disappointed,” Kershaw said. “Being out there on Opening Day is special. I don’t take that for granted. I love being out there and just what it signifies and being a part of the Dodge history and all that stuff. It’s not lost on me. I love doing that. But when you get super realistic about it, it is just one game, so that’s what I keep trying to tell myself. It’s going to be sad on Opening Day, watching somebody else go, but I’ll get over it.”
Kershaw equated where he is now to being at the beginning of Spring Training and trying to build up for the season. He estimated that it might take 20 days to build up — at least an inning’s worth of pitches more from outing to outing against live hitters.
Roberts was encouraged by what he saw on Wednesday.
“Ball (was) coming out good — changeup, slider, curveball, fastball. I thought the command was good,” Roberts said. “I think the boxes are checked and very positive.”
