There's been no place like home for Seager
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.
ARLINGTON -- There’s no place like home. Nobody knows that more than Corey Seager.
As soon as the 28-year-old signed a 10-year, $325 million deal with the Rangers this offseason, everybody was quick to point out that they play in the same stadium where Seager won the NLCS and World Series MVP in 2020 for the Dodgers. He even uses the same locker that he was stationed at during that pandemic-affected playoff run.
For all the jokes, Seager seriously rakes at Globe Life Field, while uncharacteristically struggling on the road in his first year as a Ranger.
Entering Saturday, Seager’s splits looked like this:
Home: .278/.364/.577 (.941 OPS)
Away: .204/.248/.306 (.554 OPS)
Nine of his 11 home runs this season have come at home, and those two on the road came just last week in Oakland.
“Globe Life just a really good visual for me,” Seager said. “You have those places where you just see the ball better and this is for sure.”
Maybe it's the large, green batters’ eye or the lack of glare with the retractable roof keeping the sun out for the majority of the season. No matter what it is, Seager is feeling right at home.
As for the road splits, that’s a mystery for both Seager and manager Chris Woodward as it stands right now. Having played his entire career in the National League before signing with the Rangers, he just hasn’t spent as much time in the ballparks in the opposite league, though that may or may not be contributing to the issue.
“I don’t know,” Woodward said. “Maybe it has something to do with it because he hasn't played in the American League and hasn't played in these ballparks as much or as often, I guess. I don't know if it's still too small of a sample size to look at it [playing in the AL]. Maybe it’s something to keep our eye on. But it isn’t a situation [I’m worried about].”
Prior to this season, Seager had almost identical splits at home at Dodger Stadium (.297/.364/.533/.897) and on the road (.290/.361/.465/.826).
And for what it’s worth, Woodward isn’t too concerned with Seager’s performance on the road. If he keeps raking like he is at Globe Life Field, there’s no doubt it’ll eventually even itself out.
“I think he just loves our ballpark,” Woodward said. “He just feels really comfortable there. He sees the ball well, he loves the batter's box and loves the background. So there's comfort there. He just feels good when he puts swings on balls, even though it's a big ballpark. ... I just think the fact that he's killed it is that he's really comfortable hitting at our place. ... If I give him a day off, it would probably be on the road though. If that answers anything.”