Rangers Sit Corey Seager for Third Straight Game Due to Slump, Back Spasms

The Texas Rangers won’t have their All-Star shortstop on the field for the third straight game. The question is whether it’s a longer-term problem?

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers had a one-game break in mind for their All-Star shortstop Corey Seager. The break has now grown to three games.

The Rangers held Seager out of the lineup for Sunday's finale with the Houston Astros, his third straight day not being in the starting lineup. Originally, the idea was to give him Friday off after a Thursday off day so that he could get an extra day to work out of one of the worst slumps in his career.

But back spasms cropped up on Saturday, and the Rangers opted to sit him again. On Sunday, the Rangers left him out of the lineup for a third straight game. Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Seager will get an MRI to rule out anything more significant.

The Rangers will play Ezequiel Duran at shortstop for the third straight game.

Concern for Corey Seager?

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The question is whether the spasms are a short-term issue or whether he needs time on the injured list. Texas still has two days to put him on the IL and back-date it to Saturday, when the injury first appeared.

A longer break may not be the worst thing for Seager. He’s mired in a slump he’s never endured before.

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. Since then, he’s played in seven games and failed to connect for a hit in 25 at-bats. The slump stretches back to his last 27 at-bats, which is worst slump of his career.

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.

If the Rangers were to move Seager to the IL, he would miss the remainder of the road trip. Texas heads to Colorado after Sunday’s game for a three-game series that starts on Monday. After an off day on Thursday, the Rangers head to Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels for three games in a series that starts on Friday. Texas returns home to start a seven-game homestand on Memorial Day against the Houston Astros.

Right now, Texas only has three position players on the injured list — infielder Cody Freeman, infielder Josh Smith and outfielder Wyatt Langford. None are expected back by the time the Rangers return to Arlington.