Dodgers’ Seager preparing for an encore
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Corey Seager, the unanimous pick for NL Rookie of the Year in 2016, begins his second season as the Dodgers’ shortstop confronted by one daunting question. What can he do for an encore? There is no simple answer. Perhaps, there’s no answer at all. Great rookie seasons are often followed by the so-called sophomore slump. But Seager isn’t listening to the clamor for an encore, or suggestions that he will struggle in 2017.
“He eliminates the noise,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who sees a young player not easily distracted from the immediate task.
At spring training, that amounts to detail. One in particular. Seager told Roberts that he didn’t have his best swing last season, despite a .308 batting average and 26 home runs.
“It wasn’t exactly what I wanted,” Seager said Thursday. “Mechanically, I could have been better. I wasn’t uncomfortable. I just wasn’t 100 percent.”
Seager at his optimum best is something Roberts calls “scary” — as in scary good. But Roberts foresees Seager improving, year to year, at a steady and almost deliberate pace.
“I think that he is always trying to get better as a player,” Roberts said. “That’s what any player’s goal is, of course. For me, what he did was exceptional. Whether a player doesn’t have his ‘A’ swing or doesn’t feel great, Corey still goes out and competes. That’s the thing that separates Corey from a lot of players. He goes out there and tries to put his best bat
out there every night and every time he steps in the box. That’s why he is productive.”
MORE DODGERS: Julio Urias was impressive in pitching two innings of batting practice Thursday to Justin Turner, Joc Pederson, Yasmani Grandal and Seager, The 20-yearold left-hander from Mexico limited them to grounders and pop-ups.
OLYMPICS: The head of the Major League Baseball Players Association says it will be difficult for big leaguers to participate at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Baseball returns to Olympics after a 12-year absence for the Tokyo Games, which are scheduled for July 24-Aug. 9 — in the middle of baseball’s season.
“There are challenges with the schedule, and there are challenges with major leaguers being involved,” Tony Clark said Thursday.
In 2008, players on major league 25-man rosters and disabled lists June 26 were ineligible to play. The U.S. roster included 17 players from Triple-A, seven from Double-A and college pitcher Stephen Strasburg, now with the Washington Nationals.
YANKEES: Scheduled openingday starter Masahiro Tanaka threw 74 pitches off a bullpen mound and during a simulated game Thursday in preparation for his first spring training appearance next week.
The Japanese right-hander threw 30 pitches over two innings against Chase Headley, Brett Gardner and Chris Carter in the simulated game. He gave up a single to Headley, walked a batter and induced a double play from Carter.
RANGERS: Josh Hamilton was back at Rangers spring training camp in Arizona on Thursday and feeling confident after an examination in Texas showed no significant structural damage to his surgically repaired left knee.
WHITE SOX: The club plans to retire No. 56, the uniform worn by former ace Mark Buehrle.
The White Sox say they will honor the four-time All-Star and 2005 championship team member before the game against Oakland on June 24.
He will become the 12th player to see his number retired by the White Sox, including former teammate Paul Konerko and Hall of Famer Frank Thomas.
ARBITRATION: Padres first baseman Wil Myers landed the biggest raise of all the hefty salary increases in arbitration.
The 168 players eligible for arbitration as of mid-December averaged a 113 percent raise, according to a study by The Associated Press on Thursday.
Myers received a 26-fold increase from $523,900 to an average of $13.8 million as part of an $83 million, sixyear contract.
St. Louis right-hander Carlos Martinez was next with a 18-fold hike from $539,000 to an average of $10.2 million in a $51 million, five-year deal, followed by Atlanta outfielder Ender Inciarte with an 11-fold raise from $523,000 to an average of $6.1 million in his five-year deal worth $30,525,000.