Seager's slump 'no concern' to Bochy, Rangers

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Corey Seager is a meticulous guy. He obsesses over his swing religiously.

That hard work and obsessiveness has shown clearly on the field for most of his career, all coming to a climax in 2023 when he finished second in American League MVP voting -- behind unanimous winner Shohei Ohtani -- and notched his second World Series MVP as he led the Rangers to their first title in franchise history.

All the more reason that a relatively slow start to the 2024 season may raise some eyebrows.

Entering Saturday’s matchup against the Royals -- when he went 1-for-5 -- Seager had two hits in his past 12 at-bats and was 5-for-45 (.111) over his past 12 games to lower his batting average from .301 to .229. His advanced statistics are down across the board, including his xBA, xwOBA, hard-hit rate and barrel rate.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, for what it’s worth, hasn’t appeared worried about his star shortstop’s unusual skid.

“I don’t care how good you are -- and I’ve been fortunate to have some great hitters from Tony Gwynn and Barry Bonds -- but you just have moments where you get spoiled by how good they are and you ask what’s going on,” Bochy said. “The numbers could be better than what they are. But he’s made some hard outs. And he’s raised the bar so high from what we all expect to see. We will see it. I have no concerns.”

Bochy added that there have been meetings with the hitting coaches and analytics guys, but he would prefer to keep the specifics of those conversations internal.

Seager did undergo offseason surgery to repair a left sports hernia, causing him to miss all but the final three games of Spring Training, and he’s clearly still trying to get his timing and power back to form. He’s launched just two home runs after matching a career high 33 last season. He’s also got just two doubles after leading the league with 42 in 2023.

It’s been a month now. The Rangers are treading water just above .500 with a number of players on the injured list. If and when Seager returns to form, the Texas offense should break out of its inconsistency, too.

“These guys are human,” Bochy said. “With Corey, come on, we know he’s going to hit. The guy missed all of Spring Training and really couldn’t do a lot this winter. I thought this would be a slow process with him getting in the flow of things like he normally is. Yeah, he’s fine.

“He’s one of the best hitters in the game, so I'm not concerned about Corey. It'll be fine. He's gonna get his hits, his home runs. We're not worried about him, but again, it's always good to make good hard contact for anybody that’s trying to find that groove that they normally are in.”

Seager, a man of few words, didn’t have much to say as he continued to work through his skid.

“I think working is the right word,” Seager said. “I mean, obviously, I’m not doing well. You’re never going to stop working, right? [I need to] get more hits.”

He did take time to note that it is “definitely not a physical thing” post-surgery, and it’s just a matter of getting out of this slump -- something he hasn’t had to work through much before.

Seager feels like his process is right; he works meticulously on that process. But everybody wants to see rewards for their hard work, whether they openly acknowledge it or not. So he’ll just keep working to turn things around.

“I’m trying to figure it out, so you're gonna continue to work until you get it right,” Seager said. “A skid is a right, right? When you’re not playing well, that’s all it is. … I just think I’m not getting enough hits.”