Throughout our lives decisions are often made for or about us that we may not necessarily agree with but are for our own good – at least that’s what we’re told. So when Dodgers manager Don Mattingly opted to finally give Dodgers rookie phenom Corey Seager a day off on Thursday – his first full day off since making his MLB debut on September 3 – the 21-year-old Charlotte, NC native understood the decision even though, in his opinion, he didn’t need it.

“It was just another day off. I wasn’t happy, relieved, sad, it was just a day to relax,” said Seager as he was preparing to leave the clubhouse after the Dodgers exciting 6-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon.

Does Seager think that he needed a day off? Was he tired?

“No, not really,” Seager answered.

But what Seager thinks doesn’t matter, especially when the guy making the decisions – for his own good, of course – thinks otherwise.

“He’s been going pretty hard. We’ve kind of had him in there every day, he’s already played a full minor league season,” said Mattingly prior to Thursday’s game. “So we want to be… obviously this game, the fact that we have Jimmy [Rollins] back, the fact that JT (Justin Turner) is able to play today, it makes it obviously easier to use our guys and get our lineup kind of out there.”

After appearing in 125 games in the minor leagues this season, Seager appeared in 19 consecutive games with the Dodgers since his MLB debut on September 3. If that doesn’t give you heavy legs, nothing will. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But after the Dodgers arrived in Denver late Thursday afternoon for a three-game weekend series with the Colorado Rockies, Mattingly learned that his young shortstop/third baseman was dealing with leg issues, although the way Mattingly’s description of it was a bit ambiguous.

“I just wanted to be cautious [on Friday]. I’m going to need him to play shortstop in this series,” Mattingly said. “He was just heavy-legged the other day and I’d seen him shaking his legs out. It’s one of those things where I just wanted to stay away from [using] him.”

Although “heavy-legged” is certainly subject to interpretation, Seager gave no indication of any health issues whatsoever when asked how he felt on Thursday afternoon.

“I feel good,” Seager answered.

Then again, what else is he going to say under the circumstances. But when the team arrived in Denver, Seager informed the training staff that he was experiencing some minor soreness in both legs.

“We encourage guys to make sure they tell us anything going on at all,” Mattingly said. “Let it go and it turns into something bigger and you’re really in trouble. Let the training staff decide if it’s minor or something that needs attention.”

As a result, Seager was held out of Friday night’s game as well, although – as noted – Mattingly expects him to play at some point this weekend.

As for playing at Coors Field, the right-handed throwing – left-handed hitting Seager is looking forward to his first trip to the mile-high ballpark.

“It should be fun, just a different stadium to see [on Friday], said Seager. “It’ll be exciting. I’ve heard it’s good, we’ll see. You still gotta hit it.”

Playing at high elevations is nothing new for Seager. While with Triple-A Oklahoma City, the OKC Dodgers played the Albuquerque Isotopes – the Dodgers former Triple-A affiliate – which is also at over 5,000-feet.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” Seager said. “Deeper hits and the ball goes a little further. It’s definitely a confidence booster.”

While nearly every move that Mattingly makes is subject to scrutiny (and even more so criticism) by Dodger fans and the media, decisions like keeping his young star – or any of his players for that matter – out for an extra day or two could pay huge dividends as the postseason nears – even if we don’t necessarily agree with it or realize that it’s for the teams’ own good.