Rangers Place Corey Seager on Injured List with Back Inflammation

Corey Seager missed an entire series due to back spasms and now the Texas Rangers have decided to move him to the IL.

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

After news broke that Corey Seager was heading back to Arlington to meet with a Texas Rangers team back specialist, it was only a matter of time before the two-time World Series MVP ended up on the 10-day injured list.

Before Monday's game with Colorado, the Rangers made it official as they moved him to the IL with back spasms and called up Michael Helman from Triple-A Round Rock.

President of baseball operations Chris Young confirmed the move during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Monday.

"He's just too valuable and important to the rest of our season," Young said. "Our anticipation is this will give him the chance to reset mentally."

Seager is the fourth position player on the injured list, alongside infielder Cody Freeman, infielder Josh Smith, and outfielder Wyatt Langford. The Rangers backdated Seager’s appearance on the IL to Saturday when he first reported symptoms of the spasms. That means he is eligible to return when Texas returns home from its road trip.

Corey Seager’s Status

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Texas gave Seager a planned day off on Friday when the Rangers opened their series with the Houston Astros. Seager was in a 0-for-27 rut at the plate. Combined with an off day for travel on Thursday, it gave the slugger two days off.

But on Saturday, Seager arrived at the ballpark and complained of back spasms. The Rangers scratched him from the lineup as a precautionary measure. When the spasms persisted, Texas kept him on the bench on Sunday, prompting his visit to the specialist.

Ezequiel Duran played shortstop all three games in Houston while Justin Foscue took over at second base, where Duran has been playing since Smith went on the injured list.

The left-handed hitting All-Star is mired in the worst start of his career. He entered the Astros series with a career-worst slash of .179/.286/.353 with four home runs and 20 RBI. He hasn’t had a hit since he went 2-for-5 against the New York Yankees on May 6.

He has a career slash of .285/.359/.504 with an .863 OPS. With the Rangers, he’s never hit worse than .245 and that was his first season with the team in 2022. He nearly won a batting title in 2023 with a .327 average and was second in American League MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani, then of the Los Angeles Angels.

Seager has spent time on the injured list in each of his last three seasons with the Rangers. In 2023, he missed time he missed nearly a month with a left hamstring strain and two weeks with a right thumb strain.

In 2024 got off to a late start due to offseason sports hernia surgery. He went on the injured list in September with right hip discomfort that eventually led to surgery.

Last season, he had two different IL stints in April and May due to a left hamstring strain and then missed the final month of the season after he had an appendectomy.