Seager to IL with hip discomfort, 2024 return in question

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have tried to manage Corey Seager's workload over the last month, hoping to keep the franchise shortstop fresh throughout an entire season. He had played shortstop in just three games this past week, while also getting a pair of DH days and two off-days.

Before Wednesday's 10-6 win over the Yankees, that management came to a head when general manager Chris Young announced that Seager was placed on the 10-day injured list with right hip discomfort. Young said that plan is for Seager to get evaluated in the coming days, at which point they will have a better idea of the timeline for his return to the field.

"What that means in terms of timeline, and obviously the point of the season where we are, I can't really predict as to when he'll be back,” Young said. “But nonetheless, we think it's very prudent to make sure we get Corey right. He's such an important part of our team, and we want to make sure he remains healthy moving forward."

Seager said he can’t really pinpoint when his hip started to bother him, but it was definitely over the last couple of weeks that it began getting a little tougher to move around. He said that they hoped the DH days would allow the discomfort to calm down, but it never did.

As of now, there’s no specific timeline for his return -- and neither Young nor Seager wanted to speculate if this injury would officially end his season prematurely.

"You want to be out there with your guys,” Seager said. “We’re finally starting to play some good baseball and this isn’t the time you want to miss. It’s definitely frustrating. … You want to get back out there. We’ll see, though. I hope [I’ll play again this season]."

Seager underwent offseason surgery to repair a left sports hernia, causing him to miss all but the final three games of Spring Training. He noted that being injured for much of last offseason and Spring Training definitely affected how he approached this injury at this point in the season.

"You can’t miss two offseasons in a row,” Seager said. “You've got to be healthy and get back into working out and getting into shape. I didn’t really have a build-up last year coming into the season, so it’s something that I need to have coming into the next [season].”

The surgery clearly had some residual effects on Seager, who slashed just .208/.303/.292 in April.

But Seager has looked more like himself since the calendar turned to May. From May 1-Sept. 2, he’s hit .290 with a .931 OPS. That being said, it’s fair to say that maybe the Rangers didn’t even get the best out of their franchise shortstop this season.

"I think for a lot of the season we did [get a healthy Seager],” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Maybe you look at the past month, yeah, there’s something he's been battling. As good as he is, you've got to be somewhat healthy to hit 30 home runs, especially when you look at his start. It was awful. He'll tell you that. Coming off that surgery, and it's amazing what he has done this year. For three months or so, yeah, he was healthy."

Bochy said Josh Smith will get most of the playing time at shortstop with Seager out, but both Ezequiel Duran and Jonathan Ornelas will get reps there in September as well.

"It does give us a chance to see some other guys,” Bochy said. “We've all got to pick it up throughout this lineup. We've got to figure out a way to get some runs on the board."

Smith (at shortstop) and Duran (at second for a resting Marcus Semien) combined to go 5-for-9 with three runs sand three RBIs in Wednesday’s win.

They were much-needed contributions, as Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning, cutting into the Rangers’ eight-run lead and forcing them to use closer Kirby Yates. The right-hander promptly closed it out -- with a bit of help from left fielder Wyatt Langford, who appeared to rob a homer off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton to seal the uncomfortably close victory.

Despite Seager’s absence in two of the three games against the Yankees, the Rangers secured their third straight series victory. Texas hadn’t won back-to-back series since July 5-14, when the club won three straight series against the Rays, Angels and Astros going into the All-Star break. Now they’ve done it again against the White Sox, A’s and Yankees.

"This is a great opportunity for guys to get extra bats and finish strong,” Young added pregame. “It's a great opportunity for our group to come together and play with passion and grit and fight and make an impact on the pennant race, and build some momentum into 2025.”