Without Corey Seager, Rangers Have Plan to Handle His Absence

The Texas Rangers will be without shortstop Corey Seager for the rest of the road trip, which ends on Sunday in Anaheim.

The Rangers placed the shortstop on the 10-day injured list on Monday with lower back inflammation. The move was retroactive to Saturday when the injury was first reported, and Texas is hopeful that he can re-join the lineup when the Rangers return home for their Memorial Day showdown with the Houston Astros.

The question to manager Skip Schumaker on Monday in Denver was how the Rangers would handle his absence? Turns out Texas will stick to what they did in Houston without Seager.

The Plan Without Corey Seager

Texas Rangers left fielder Ezequiel Duran throws to first base — Texas Rangers left fielder Ezequiel Duran. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Per MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, the Rangers will gives Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue most of the playing time at shortstop and second base, respectively. That was how he aligned the middle infield without Seager last weekend. He missed Friday’s game for a planned day off and then the remaining two games due to back spasms, which caused him to see a specialist in Arlington on Monday.

Duran has been the team’s top utility player this season, but he settled into regular duty at second base since Josh Smith went on the 10-day injured list with a right glute strain. After Seager departed the lineup, Schumaker moved Duran to shortstop and Foscue, who was promoted after Smith’s IL move, to second base.

Entering the Rockies opener Duran was slashing .270/.336/443 with three home runs and 15 RBI. Foscue, a former first-round pick, was slashing .182/.182/.318 with one home run and two RBI. Foscue has gotten the most regular playing time of his career in the Majors, which gives him a chance to prove to the organization that he’s a part of the team’s future.

Schumaker also noted a back-up plan at shortstop. Michael Helman, who was called up on Monday to replace Seager on the active roster, will be Duran’s backup if needed. Helman was in the starting lineup and playing center field for Monday’s game. Schumaker said it’s more likely that Helman will play in the outfield, though he was a contender for the second base job in spring training.

Seager now gets a week off to rest his back and try to mentally reset after the worst start of his career at the plate. Before the Astros series, he was without a hit in his previous 27 at-bats. The two-time World Series Most Valuable Player was slashing .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.

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.

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