Rangers Notes: Corey Seager’s Quality Performance Buried by Loss to Astros

Corey Seager returned to the Texas Rangers lineup on Friday and put together a quality performance, even if the team around him didn't.

Seager went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored as the Rangers fell to the Astros, 11-2. It was about as awful a start as a first-place team could have put together against a team that was chasing them in the standings.

As the Rangers (55-55) and Astros (56-55) prepare for Game 2 on Saturday evening, the Astros now have a half-game game lead in the division and are above 500 for the first time since early April.

Seager didn’t give the Rangers much of a chance, but that wasn’t on him. After a month on the injured list dealing with a second back injury, he was able to give Texas a full game with some production.

When he came off the injured list in June, the Rangers had a plan to ramp him up. With the season now at the home stretch, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker hinted that the final two months are about getting as much as possible out of Seager.

“I think we’ll talk to Corey every day to see how he feels, but I mean, we don't have many games left of the season,” Schumaker said to reporters, including MLB.com. “We're almost in August. It's go time. We have to win as many games as we can with the best players on the field.”

Seager is slashing .189/.297/.384 after Friday’s game.

Expect a Weekend Pitching Transaction

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Luis Curvelo throws a baseball. — Texas Rangers relief pitcher Luis Curvelo. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Rangers will probably need reinforcements for its bullpen before Saturday's game. Nothing on the mound went to form on Friday. Starter Nathan Eovaldi had his worst performance in a month as he gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in five innings.

Luis Curvelo, who was promoted on Friday, took the next two innings in and basically ate them. He gave up four hits and four earned runs. He also threw 54 pitches, 31 of which were strikes. His performance preserved the rest of the bullpen for the next two games, but it likely means that Texas will have to ship him back to Round Rock this weekend to get a fresh arm.

Who that arm will be remains unclear. But it will not be Winston Santos. Santos was one of the pitchers optioned on Friday to Round Rock and he can only be called up if someone is injured.

Rehabbing Rangers

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cody Bradford between plays. — Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cody Bradford. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Reliever Chris Martin threw a clean inning with Triple-A Round Rock on Friday, his fifth appearance with the Express since July 21 as he tries to rehab a right shoulder impingement for the third time this season. But he’s not the pitcher everyone has their eye on this weekend.

Texas sent left-hander Jordan Montgomery back to the minors for another rehab game this weekend, likely on Sunday. Montgomery told reporters last weekend that he was ready to pitch in the Majors, but it wasn’t up to him. So why didn’t Texas activate him this weekend?

The Rangers probably want to see Montgomery stack one more good performance on top of how he pitched last weekend against Albuquerque. That's because the performance before Albuquerque was not good. On July 18 July he gave up seven hits and six earned runs in 2.1 innings. It was his most ineffective rehab outing since he started on June 21.

Even though he’s reached the 75-pitch threshold, Texas likely wants to see one more good game. If he pitches on Sunday, he could be available for the Baltimore series at home next weekend.

As for left-hander Cody Bradford, he continues to progress. On Thursday he pitched four innings for Round Rock, giving up four hits and no runs while he struck out seven. He threw 56 pitches.

Bradford hasn't yet reached the 75-pitch threshold for a starting pitcher. Bradford has been used as both a starter and a reliever in his career. It's possible Texas could decide to promote him before he reaches that threshold and put him in the bullpen as a long reliever. Texas has not announced what his next step will be.

Add us as a preferred source on Google