Corey Seager feeds Howie Kendrick to retire Curtis Granderson and start a double play in the first inning of Game 2 of the 2015 National League Division Series. (Patrick Gee/Los Angeles Dodgers)
By Jon Weisman
Howie Kendrick will go from playing alongside 16-year veteran Jimmy Rollins in 2015 to 27-game veteran Corey Seager in 2016.
But Kendrick isn’t worried about the adjustment period this year, any more than he was when he and Rollins joined the Dodgers last year.
“It’s just gonna be one of those things of just getting a feel for how (Seager) plays,” Kendrick said today in a conference call with reporters. “I played with him a little bit toward the end when I came back after I was hurt, and Seager’s a great guy.”
Kendrick wasn’t surprised, having come across Seager’s older brother Kyle many a time when Kendrick was with the Angels.
“I really like his brother,” Kendrick said. “Kyle’s an awesome guy. … Then once I got around Corey, I was like, ‘Man, it must just run in the family,’ because both of those guys are really awesome people, let alone as players. His demeanor as a player is really calm — you don’t see him get upset too much. He has a confidence about him when he gets out on the field. Out on defense or even in the locker room or in the dugout, that’s going to be huge, because you’ll be able to talk to him.
“We’re gonna make mistakes. Hopefully he’ll ask me questions, and I can give him as much info as I possibly can. I’m always open to helping guys out, and you never know, I might learn something from him, too.”
Seager is just one of many reasons Kendrick is happy to be back in Los Angeles, even if his foray into free agency didn’t play out the way he had expected.
“At the end of the season, I was actually really hoping I would return to L.A.,” he said. “I think one of the biggest things was, I think they knew I wasn’t going to accept the qualifying offer, being my first time going into free agency. I was really optimistic about the market. I’m very happy to be back in L.A., though, because I really enjoyed my time here last year, had a lot of fun with the guys. We came up short, but I definitely really enjoyed playing (here) — the atmosphere, the fans, the team, the front office — everybody was great.”
Kendrick still laments what might have been in 2015, for himself personally and for the team. The 32-year-old was hitting .396/.420/.583 in his last 11 games before he hurt his hamstring beating out an infield single August 9 against the Pirates. He would miss the next 35 games.
“We had some injuries with some guys down the stretch,” Kendrick said, “and then coming back in the postseason, the Mets outplayed us. I thought we could have played a little better, but at the same time they had a great team, too. And they actually pitched really well. You get upset, because when you look back at the postseason, and you think about some of the things you could have done differently, but at the same time, you know you were giving your all out there. Every time you step out on the field, you’re trying to do your best, no matter what. I felt like our best last year just didn’t come up as enough.”
That doesn’t change Kendrick’s optimism for the coming season.
“Teams are gonna go through changes,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is just trying to figure out who we are as a team. That’s why we have Spring Training. Hopefully guys will get in and mesh well, and we get all the pieces in the right places. … The core of the team is still there, and then you add some new pieces in. There’s a bunch of really good guys on this team, and I don’t see that being a problem adding the new pieces. It’s just finding that that fine-tuned area, where everybody gets on the same page. And as long as we play the game well when we get out on the field, and we do the fundamentals, I think we won’t have any problem winning ballgames.”
New manager Dave Roberts is another checkmark in the Dodgers’ favor — and another positive memory from Kendrick’s earlier playing days.
“I’ve known Dave for a long time,” Kendrick said. “When I first came up in ’06, he was still playing. Dave’s a great guy, great personality. So was Don Mattingly. I had no issue with Donnie. Both guys are baseball guys — they know the game, they played the game, they were great players when they played, and I have respect for both guys.
“Dave’s always been a positive guy. I’ve always made it a point when I saw him, when he was down in San Diego or anywhere else, to say hello to him, because he’s just a guy that I’ve respected the way that he played the game, and I knew what he brought every day to the game, and I’ve had the opportunity to see him play for a long time. To actually be on the team where he’s manager, it comes full circle. … It’s gonna be fun to get into spring and get to know him a little more and see how he does things.”
oldbrooklynfan
This shows how good the “Qualifying offer” works. Without it Kendricks might’ve been playing for somebody else, but no one would give up a draft pick for him and in this case it worked out perfectly for the Dodgers.