Seager homers in Cactus League debut

MESA, Ariz. -- Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager’s slow-play Spring Training hit full stride on Wednesday night in his Cactus League debut with a long home run, a sacrifice fly and passing a key throwing test on defense..

Seager, in his first big league game since last year’s elbow and hip operations, flied out to the warning track in left-center in his first-inning at-bat. In the third inning, he launched a bomb to center field off Cubs starter Cole Hamels. In the fifth, his sacrifice fly to center field scored Justin Turner in the 4-4 tie with the Cubs.

“Just kind of exciting to get back out there, honestly,” said Seager. “Adrenaline, excitement, all that. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been out there. That’s the excitement part, for sure.”

After a relatively uneventful series of Minor League games on defense the last two weeks, Seager gave his surgically repaired elbow the acid test. Shifted toward third on a ground ball up the middle, he made the long run to the bag, took the flip and on the pivot and fired to first base without benefit of planting and driving forward, completing an inning-ending double play.

“I honestly didn’t think about it until afterward, but that was one of those throws that would have bothered me before and I didn’t have anything at all, so that was kind of nice to be making different plays from different angles and keep checking off the boxes,” said Seager, who had Tommy John surgery last year.

“No weight, open arm, going the other way, it was really nice to make that and not have to worry about it.”

It was also nice to be the manager and see Seager come out of the test in one piece.

“That was the play he originally hurt his elbow on,” said manager Dave Roberts. “To drop down, make that throw and come out of it feeling good, that was great. Positive night.”

But in the fourth inning, Seager booted Javier Baez’s routine grounder for an error.

Seager was lifted for pinch-hitter Daniel Castro in the top of the seventh inning. The shortstop will take at-bats in a Minor League game Thursday and is expected to start Opening Day for the Dodgers in eight days.

• Julio Urias seems bound to break camp with the big league club, but not in his preferred role of starting pitcher. After Walker Buehler made it through his first start on Tuesday without incident, Urias was told by management he’s a reliever, with his primary role to piggy-back Buehler starts until Buehler’s arm is built up to pitch deep into games. Presumably, Urias would have replaced Buehler in the starting rotation if Buehler wasn’t ready to start the season.

Urias had been scheduled to start on Tuesday, but he instead pitched innings four through six. He pitched 2 2/3 innings, wasn’t sharp with his secondary pitches and didn’t get enough defensive help as he was charged with three runs, two earned, with a walk, two strikeouts but also a long home run allowed to Anthony Rizzo.

Urias insisted his one-inning warmup, unlike the 20-minute warmup for a starter, was sufficient, despite Wednesday’s results and that his experience working out of the bullpen late last season prepares him for the upcoming role. It also allows management to prevent an innings spike from last year, when he was held down two years after shoulder surgery.

“To project a role where Julio makes the most sense, it’s to come out of the ‘pen in long relief,” said Roberts. “He threw the ball OK. The stuff was good, the secondary wasn’t as good as we’d like. We didn’t play great defense behind him. Julio’s going to be just fine.”

Roberts said Urias will be used in multiple innings, not as a lefty specialist.