Former Dodgers Shortstop Makes MLB History With 200th Career Homer

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 3, 2024

Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers knew how special Corey Seager was when they selected him No. 18 overall in the 2012 draft. They also knew he would make an impact from the moment he made his big league debut on Sept. 3, 2015.

Seager cemented his legacy among some of the best shortstops to ever play the game on Thursday afternoon when he launched career home run No. 200.

Seager made history as the first left-handed-hitting shortstop (not counting switch-hitters) in Major League Baseball to reach 200 home runs, and only the 15th shortstop overall to do it.

Corey Seager's 200th career home run gets the @Rangers on the board 👏 pic.twitter.com/4h8X8Hed96

— MLB (@MLB) August 29, 2024

Seager's record company includes players who spent at least 50 percent of their career games at shortstop. He joins the Mets' Francisco Lindor (243 homers) and Rangers teammate Marcus Semien (233) as the only active players on the list of 200-homer shortstops.

The home run on Thursday was Seager's 11th in the month of August and 30th of the season. He's hit at least 30 home runs in each of his three seasons with the Rangers, including a career-high 33 in both 2022 and 2023.

“Just putting good swings on balls and trying to put myself in good positions, with a little bit of luck involved too,” Seager said of his torrid stretch this month.

It was a humble answer after such a historic day for Seager. He didn't give himself enough credit.

“We’re talking about one of the best hitters in the game,” manager Bruce Bochy said earlier this week when asked about Seager’s looming milestone. “We’re talking about a very gifted player who can do some amazing things with the bat, especially on the slugging side, even the hitting side. … He’s got a lot more in there, too. Trust me.”

The North Carolina native arrived in the big leagues as a September call up and in the shadow of his older brother, Kyle, who played for the Seattle Mariners then. The shortstop stayed with the Dodgers through the 2021 season, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award (2016). He was a two-time All-Star (2016 and 2017), won two Silver Slugger Awards (2016 and 2017), and was World Series MVP (2020).

“We all try to improve. We try to get better,” Bochy said this week. “As I’ve said many times, you never think that you arrive as a hitter, and he certainly doesn’t think like that. Every day you see him, he comes in here, and he works hard to prepare for that game.

“He's just gotten better. He's got a simple swing, a short swing, and he has incredible talent to get the barrel to the ball.”