LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' depth will be put to the test with the loss of All-Star shortstop Corey Seager for the National League Championship Series presented by Camping World, as Saturday's Game 1 starter at the position is Charlie Culberson, who played 15 Major League games this past season.
The Dodgers knew on Friday that a sprained lower left back would keep Seager off the roster. In fact, there is so much stiffness and discomfort in his back and hips that he won't make the flight to Chicago for Games 3, 4 and 5. He's been unable to do any baseball activities all week after undergoing an MRI and receiving an epidural injection for the pain.
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"I can travel, but with the flights it wouldn't be productive at this point," said Seager, who said he's trying "not to be a distraction right now."
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Manager Dave Roberts said he would be comfortable playing Joc Pederson in center field and moving Chris Taylor to shortstop against right-handed pitching. Taylor, and not Culberson, was the primary replacement at shortstop in September, when Seager missed a week of games with an elbow injury that might require offseason surgery.
Pederson and Culberson were added to the roster after being left off for the NL Division Series presented by T-Mobile.
Roberts moved everybody up a spot in the batting order and put Culberson eighth. He added that he's "very comfortable" with either Taylor or Enrique Hernandez starting at shortstop in future games.
Seager is anything but very comfortable after being injured sliding into second base in the first inning of Game 3 on Monday. The slide wasn't even necessary, but Seager didn't know that because the ball was hit behind him, as Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt took an out at first base on Cody Bellinger's RBI grounder instead of trying for a double play. Seager played the entire game, but the back locked up the next day.
"It was a very normal slide. I watched it over and over again to see if I landed awkward, hit awkward," said Seager. "I felt it on the slide right away. Really wasn't kind of sure what it was. I put a bunch of hot stuff on. It was getting worked on between every inning. And basically, the adrenaline of the game kind of kept me in it."
Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, said the injury does not present a long-term issue.
"We're optimistic he'll be ready for the next round," Friedman said, looking ahead to the World Series. "That being said, we're not going to venture much past the day-by-day situation."
Changes can be made when new rosters are submitted for the World Series, if the Dodgers advance. To activate Seager during this series, he would need to replace a player certified as injured, and the move must be approved by MLB. An injured player substituted for during a series is ineligible to return for the next series.
The test for Seager will be running, and he hasn't come close to trying that yet.
"I think next week is going to be kind of a big week to see if I can get back into baseball activities and stuff," Seager said. "But right now I'm not really sure. I'm progressing every day, which is really nice. But I'm not really sure."