Dodgers: Corey Seager and AJ Pollock Begin Rehab Assignments
The Dodgers are playing at a top level right now and they are going to get better. David Freese, A.J. Pollock and Corey Seager are expected to be back in the lineup soon with both Pollock and Seager starting rehabilitation assignments with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (rcquakes.com). Dodgers Nation is covering those rehabilitation assignments.
A.J. Pollock
Before The Injury
On April 29th Dave Roberts spoke about some issues with Pollock’s elbow.
Dave Roberts said AJ Pollock has an infection in right elbow. Likely going on injured list.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) April 30, 2019
On April 30th the announcement was made that Pollock was being placed on the 10-day Injured List. After that we get the bombshell that he was to have surgery.
AJ Pollock has an infection in his bursa in his right elbow. He is having the hardware from his 2016 surgery, removed tomorrow. No timetable scheduled for his return from tomorrow’s surgery.
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) May 2, 2019
A lot of the fears many had with the signing of Pollock were being realized after barely after a month. He was already off to a rough start while slashing .223/.287/.330 (AVG/OBP/SLG). According to FanGraphs he’s also played a pretty bad center field. To say the least, Pollock was off to a rough start for his Dodger career.
Rehab Assignment So Far
A.J. Pollock has appeared in two games for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes so far. Here is a running log of his plate appearances:
- Strike out swinging
- Ground out to 3B
- Strike out swinging
- Fly out to LF
- Fly out to RF
- Strike out swinging
All defensive plays were made as expected with nothing that took any great effort. From what Dave Roberts has said, it looks like the Dodgers want Pollock to play in five rehab games before joining the team after the All-Star break.
Dave Roberts on @maxmuncy9 making the All-Star Game and an update on @coreyseager_5 & AJ Pollock. pic.twitter.com/2PKOepaqi4
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 6, 2019
Corey Seager
Before The Injury
After a slow start coming back from Tommy John and hip surgery Seager was slashing .236/.333/.364 after April. In May he started to warm up a bit as he slashed .264/.347/.506 and by the time he injured his hamstring on June 11 he was slashing .425/.465/.675 for the month. For most Dodger fans, this was disheartening news. Seager is a fan favorite and is one of the best players in baseball. Fortunately, Chris Taylor has been quite good filling in for Seager.
The Dodgers today activated IF Matt Beaty from the 10-day injured list and placed IF Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 12, with left hamstring strain.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 13, 2019
The injury was initially thought of as a Grade 2 strain, which probably meant two months off. It was then downgraded to between a Grade 1 and 2 which meant 4-6 weeks.
Rehab Assignment So Far
Seager’s first rehab assignment came on July 5th, barely three weeks after the initial injury. He’d already started some simulated games on July 2nd.
Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock are hitting in a simulated game today at Dodger Stadium.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) July 2, 2019
The only rehab game that Seager appeared in so far he hit a single to right-center and line drive single off the first baseman. On the second hit he had to beat out the throw from the infielder to the pitcher covering. Everything looked good.
On defense he had two chances. The first one was a normal grounder to shortstop and he threw the runner out with a throw a little off but still a catchable ball (yes, the first baseman caught it). His second play he started off a double play on a grounder. He only played a total of two and a half innings.
Next Steps
It sounds like Pollock will play another three games in the minor leagues and Seager will only play two. I’m hoping they don’t rush either player. Pollock looks as rusty as can be as he’s been out for over two months. Rushing him back to the Dodgers when he is not ready isn’t fair to anybody. He’ll end up taking plate appearances away from someone like Matt Beaty who is slashing .288/.308/.413 and playing regularly against right handed starters. Seager on the other hand, he looks ready. My only concern is that his hamstring is fully healed. When I saw him on July 5th he looked great and seemed to pass all the on-the-field tests with flying colors.
With Seager and Pollock returning it will be difficult to have two players optioned back. Wondering who is sent down
Just lost 3 in a row at home, time to stop experiments. Start using your head. You don’t need Joc to play first, you already have several options. Beaty who is hitting well in spite of learning a new position in the majors is getting sent down because he has options. Send Barnes down and bring up Will Smith.
Nice job setting Yimi up for failure Friday. Most of his stats are okay except for home runs allowed. So the manager brings him in the eighth to face 70 home-runs. What a surprise, he gave up a home runs. For someone who lets metrics make all his decisions this was beyond explanation. Use your head man. I was thrilled when Dave got the job but I didn’t know he would be Friedman’s yes man. You manage, let Friedman play with charts and pick up more lousy relievers for the series and watch the Yankees play home run derby.