Texas Rangers' Corey Seager (29) has advanced to the World Series for the third time since his time with the Dodgers.
Texas advanced to the World Series with an 11-4 victory in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Thursday (April 24) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Seager, who started at second base, went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in the first inning, a double, a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk in the victory.
After joining the Dodgers in the first round (18th overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, Seager developed into the team's top prospect and became a franchise star in his seven seasons with the Dodgers, batting .2419/.718 (104 HR, 364 RBI) with an .870 OPS in 636 games.
However, the Dodgers, who acquired Trey Turner in a trade, had no intention of re-signing Seager, who was eligible for free agency after the 2021 season, and Seager left his longtime franchise to sign a 10-year, $325 million contract with Texas.
After a somewhat disappointing first year in Texas last season, when he batted just 2-for-44 with 33 homers, 83 RBIs, and a .772 OPS in 151 games (593 at-bats), Seager has been outstanding this season, batting 3-for-7 with 33 homers, 156 RBIs, and a 1.013 OPS in 119 games (477 at-bats), despite missing time due to injury. Seager's performance helped Texas reach the postseason for the first time in seven years in 2016.
Seager's performance continued in fall ball. In 12 games, he batted 3-for-15 (45 RBI) with three home runs, six RBI, and a 1.127 OPS to help Texas reach the World Series for the first time in 12 years after finishing as World Series runner-up in 2011. It was his third career World Series appearance after playing for the Dodgers in 2017 and 2020. In the 2020 World Series, Seager batted 4-for-8 (20 at-bats) with two home runs, 먹튀검증 five RBIs and a 1.256 OPS in six games to win his first championship and earn World Series MVP honors.
"Adolis Garcia, the reigning American League Championship Series MVP, was the star of the game with two home runs, but Texas' hot hitting started with Seager, the Rangers' regular-season MVP candidate," said MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball.
"We really enjoyed Game 7," Seager said. We showed our play on the field," Seager said after the game. "The game plan was to go after the fastball," said Seager, who took a 93.5-mile-per-hour (150.5-kilometer) second pitch from Houston starter Christian Javier for a 113.1-mile-per-hour (182.0-kilometer), 440-foot (134-meter) home run. We had to beat the fastball. That's Javier's arsenal and we knew he was going to throw fastballs, and he threw fastballs at us (in Game 3), so we were dedicated to attacking fastballs today."
This year's postseason featured both Texas, where Seager plays, and the Dodgers, Seager's former team. But while Texas advanced to the American League Wild Card Series, Division Series, and League Championship Series, the Dodgers ended fall baseball without a single win, losing in three games to Arizona in the National League Division Series.
Seager, who is enjoying his first fall ball in Texas, will be looking to experience a double-division championship by leading Texas to its first World Series title in 62 years since the franchise's inception in 1961.