Dodgers @ Rockies Sept. 25, 2015: Back Up The Mountain

Hey, the Rockies!

When you’re up by 8 games with 10 to go, you can do pretty much anything. Start A.J. Ellis in center field with Brett Anderson catching and Carl Crawford on the mound, for all I care. In fact, please do that. That’d be fascinating.

But as I launch into my usual “this doesn’t matter, none of this matters, one day we’ll all be dead, Nihilist Arby’s was right all along” routine, I must admit that even for me, it was a little shocking to see Corey Seager out of the lineup for the second day in a row. I understood resting him yesterday, of course. I understand wanting to get another look at Chase Utley at third base; I understand not wanting to pressure Justin Turner‘s knee any more than necessary.

I’m sure there’s a perfectly valid reason, and I’m sure it’s got something to do with the reason he sat yesterday:

Seager said he has never played in this many consecutive games and he had no mind to argue against a day off.

And that’s the glory of a big lead. You can do that. You can get Seager a real break. This game does not matter. If making yourself ever so slightly less likely — if even that — to win a nothing game in Denver on Sept. 25 makes Seager slightly more likely to be fresh in October, then by all means, do it. Barring some unexpected injury news we aren’t aware of, Seager will play several times in Denver, and then he’ll play against the Giants and Padres, too. We all want to see him every night; that doesn’t make it a mistake when we do not.

This all obscures the real issue, though: Free Chris Heisey!