Dodgers’ Corey Seager says he feels no extra pressure batting third

When Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager drove to Dodger Stadium early Friday afternoon, he didn’t know where he’d be batting in the lineup. He didn’t even know if he’d be starting.

It was a pleasant surprise then, when he scanned the lineup posted in the Dodgers’ clubhouse and saw that he was penciled in at shortstop, making him the youngest position player to start a postseason game for the Dodgers.

And he was batting third.

“Seeing the lineup,” Seager said, “was really cool.”

Seager, 21, has been a major-leaguer for slightly more than a month, but he has been one of the Dodgers’ best hitters over that span. Before Friday’s game, he said he felt no added stress from batting third.

“That’s a meaty part of the order, so you’ve got to go out and give good [at-bats],” Seager said. “But other than that, there’s no extra pressure.”

Seager said that after he scanned the lineup card in the clubhouse, Manager Don Mattingly pulled him aside.

“It’s still a baseball game,” Seager said Mattingly told him.

Seager has hit .337 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 27 games this season. He has batted third twice, and had one hit in eight at-bats.

Mattingly said that Seager “fit the best” at the No. 3 spot. He said he was not worried about the 21-year-old handling the responsibility.

“We’ve put him all over,” Mattingly said. “He seemed to handle everything.”

“We felt like that was the spot for him today,” he added.

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