Seager's 200th career homer puts him in a class by himself

CHICAGO -- Corey Seager has long been established as one of the best shortstops in the Major Leagues. But on Thursday afternoon, he set a new precedent for greatness at the position.

Seager crushed his 200th career home run, a Statcast-projected 406-foot blast to right, in the fourth inning of the Rangers’ 2-1 win over the White Sox that completed the three-game sweep at Guaranteed Rate Field. He became the first purely left-handed-hitting shortstop (excluding switch-hitters) in Major League history to hit 200 home runs and the 15th shortstop overall to do so.

“We’re so grateful just to be able to watch him play every day and [for] everything that he does on a day-in and day-out basis at the plate, and the power he has,” starter Nathan Eovaldi said.

Seager’s milestone accounts for those who played shortstop in at least 50 percent of their career games. He joined the Mets’ Francisco Lindor (243 career homers) and Rangers teammate Marcus Semien (233) as the only active players on the list.

Of course, Semien is now Seager’s double-play partner as Texas’ second baseman. The Rangers signed the middle-infield duo to multi-year free-agent contracts on the same day: Dec. 1, 2021.

“We knew coming into free agency we had a chance to collectively hit a lot of home runs,” Semien said. “You just want to help the team win. Obviously, one swing of the bat today was the difference. I think he's going to do a lot more damage in years in the future, too.”

The home run on Thursday also was Seager’s 11th this month and 30th this season. He has hit at least 30 home runs in each of his three seasons with the Rangers, including a career-high 33 in both 2022 and ‘23.

“Just putting good swings on balls and trying to put myself in good positions, with a little bit of luck involved too,” Seager said of his torrid stretch this month.

Seager may not have been giving himself enough credit.

“We’re talking about one of the best hitters in the game,” manager Bruce Bochy said earlier this week when asked of Seager’s looming milestone. “We’re talking about a very gifted player who can do some amazing things with the bat, especially on the slugging side, even the hitting side. … He’s got a lot more in there, too. Trust me.”

With the Dodgers from 2015-21, Seager won the National League Rookie of the Year Award (‘16), was a two-time All-Star (‘16 and ‘17), won two Silver Slugger Awards (‘16 and ‘17) and was World Series MVP (‘20). But he has taken his power game to a new level as a Ranger. Seager hit 104 homers in 636 games with Los Angeles, and he has hit 96 homers in 390 games with Texas.

“We all try to improve. We try to get better,” Bochy said this week. “As I’ve said many times, you never think that you arrive as a hitter, and he certainly doesn’t think like that. Every day you see him, he comes in here, and he works hard to prepare for that game.

“He's just gotten better. He's got a simple swing, a short swing, and he has incredible talent to get the barrel to the ball.”

Seager’s homer was the Rangers’ first hit off of White Sox starter Nick Nastrini on Thursday. It was plenty of run support for Eovaldi, who allowed just one hit and two walks in seven scoreless innings. He struck out 10 batters, tied for a season high (on July 24, also against the White Sox).

Eovaldi faced one batter over the minimum through three innings after he walked Korey Lee with two outs in the second. He allowed a leadoff single to Gavin Sheets in the fifth but erased that when Lee then grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Eovaldi worked around a one-out walk by Andrew Benintendi in the seventh by striking out Andrew Vaughn and Sheets, marking the end of his day. He threw 96 pitches (69 strikes).

Eovaldi’s four-seam fastball averaged 96.2 mph and maxed at 98.1 mph on Thursday, an uptick from his season average of 95.5 mph. He got six whiffs on 14 swings against it, and recorded six of his 10 strikeouts with the heater.

“I felt like I could locate it really well,” Eovaldi said. “I didn't feel like I had as many misses across the plate as I have in the past. I felt like I had good action with my cutter as well. I feel like if I’m locating my fastball, then my offspeed pitches are going to be working.”