On August 24, 2016, Rob Segedin’s baseball career reached its highest point. He homered off of Madison Bumgarner, then rushed from Dodger Stadium to the hospital to witness the birth of his first child. Vin Scully announced it to millions on television.



Seventeen days earlier, Segedin had made his major-league debut after seven years of toiling through the minors. The Dodgers valued his power, his patience at the plate and his defensive versatility. The next spring, he competed, in vain, to make the opening-day roster, then contracted turf toe. While rehabbing that injury, he decided to undergo surgery on his right wrist, where bone spurs had bothered him for years. He returned in August, not quite right, and couldn’t crack the playoff roster.



Six days after the Dodgers lost in the 2017 World Series, Segedin underwent surgery with the team’s hand consultant, Dr. Steven Shin, at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic. Bothered by pain in the wrist,...