ARLINGTON, Texas—In a typical season, Corey Seager doesn’t spend much time in the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout when his team is hitting. He estimates that about two-thirds of the time he is hunched over a computer monitor in the team’s replay room, dissecting his previous swings to make quick adjustments before his next at-bat.
Seager’s reliance on the instant feedback from video footage helped turn him into one of the best shortstops in the league, a two-time All-Star who combines a .300 batting average with prodigious extra-base power. But this year Seager is doing it without his self-imposed homework. Major League Baseball took it away as part of its coronavirus protocols, preventing players from congregating in close quarters indoors and frustrating Seager and many of his peers around the sport.
Except something strange has happened: Without access to the electronic support he counted on, Seager delivered the best performance in his career, hitting .307 with a .943 OPS.
Now the Dodgers sit one win away from a World Series title, with Seager emerging as a primary reason why. After blasting five home runs to claim MVP honors in the National League Championship Series, he owns a .471 average and a ridiculous 1.432 OPS in the World Series, putting him in line for another MVP trophy.
And yet, despite his success, Seager still craves his video fix.