Corey Seager off to scorching start in AA, puts him on fast track to somewhere

Corey Seager isn’t yet 21, so it’s understandable that the Dodgers sent him down to the minors even after a showcasing an advanced approach in Spring Training, posting a .333/.500/.500/1.000 line with seven walks and seven strikeouts. But as one of the top prospects in all of baseball — #5, #7, and #7 overall, according to Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus, respectively — he hasn’t shown any signs of letting up at AA through 10 games, blistering the ball for a .500/.488/.762/1.250 line with two homers.

After Seager played a game at third base a couple days ago, and with Juan Uribe struggling at the plate, there was speculation that he was being fast-tracked to the majors. However, farm director Gabe Kapler downplayed that angle.

“Corey is an athlete. He can play anywhere on the diamond,” Kapler responded via text. “In general, we want our men to think of themselves as baseball players rather than labeling themselves in any way. That said, Seager can unequivocally play shortstop and third base. He’s a pro. Exposure to multiple positions can only help our players.”

To that end, Seager was back at shortstop yesterday, and there’s ample reason to believe Kapler wasn’t hiding anything. Despite Seager’s hot start, the theory that he’s being prepped for a promotion doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Even if we assume that the front office is legitimately concerned about Uribe’s two weeks of play thus far, there’s still Justin Turner, Alex Guerrero, and even Enrique Hernandez that they’d likely turn to before rushing their prized prospect up with minimal on the job training at third. That rings even more true when the Dodgers figure to avoid Super Two arbitration by postponing any Seager call-up until around July, as there’s little chance this front office misses out on that opportunity.

That said, while Seager might not be on the fast track to the majors just yet, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly the Dodgers promote him to AAA, which I do believe will happen before he moves up to the bigs. Seager isn’t far away from being MLB-ready despite whatever positional concerns may exist, but with this Dodgers roster being as deep as any I can remember, there’s plenty of time to let Seager develop at another level, continue to prove himself over a larger sample, and maybe even let him get used to playing a new position.