Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager hits a single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the seventh inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez), Seager laid off a changeup, battled through two curveballs and squibbed a third curveball off the end of the bat, through the infield’s open left side.
It concluded a game, a series, a postseason and a year in which Seager ascended to a new level in the batter’s box. Not just a force, he is a contemporary terror, the rare hitter in the 2020s who seems to be ahead of the curve — and the fastball and the slider and the changeup.
Seager batted .318 with six homers in the playoffs, following a regular season in which he posted a .327/.390/.623 line with 33 homers in only 119 games.Cut from the Cal Ripken Jr. cloth of shortstop, Seager has been a feared hitter since he arrived in the big leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015. Yet the 2023 version of Seager that will be immortalized in World Series lore was a cut above even his past exploits. headtopics.com
“He always had the ability to impact a baseball game. He had light-tower power. He could hit for average. He was very dynamic when he was standing up there three, four years ago,” Lovullo said earlier in the World Series. “But what I see right now is somebody that’s gotten even better by being extremely selective.”
“Oh, man, he’s tough to face,” Scherzer said while dripping with beer in the postgame celebration. “He’s so aggressive, but he can hit every pitch. He’s so dangerous, you’ve really got to pitch on pins and needles when you’re going at him.” headtopics.com
Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks said back in August that Seager is the hitter most adept at countering the ever-improving “stuff” that major-league pitchers bring to bear.