Corey Seager will bear season-ending sports activities hernia surgical procedure tomorrow, Rangers GM Chris Younger instructed reporters (hyperlink through Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information). The five-time All-Star was positioned on the 10-day injured record final week with what the workforce initially introduced as hip discomfort. Texas may transfer him to the 60-day IL in a procedural transfer to activate Jacob deGrom tomorrow.
It’s the second sports activities hernia surgical procedure of the yr for Seager. He underwent the identical process in January, albeit with an vital distinction. Seager’s earlier hernia was on his left groin; Grant writes that tomorrow’s process will tackle the precise facet. The damage will not be anticipated to affect the shortstop’s readiness for Spring Coaching.
Seager suffered his earlier hernia damage throughout final yr’s postseason. He tried to rehab with out surgical procedure however went underneath the knife a pair months later when the preliminary therapy plan was unsuccessful. That set him again throughout Spring Coaching however didn’t require a season-opening injured record stint. He’ll hope for a equally swift restoration this time round in order to not have a lot of an affect of his offseason.
It’s a bitter finish to a different wonderful season for Seager. He popped 30 homers with a .278/.353/.512 batting line over 533 plate appearances. He began the yr slowly, probably partly due to his restricted ramp-up after January’s surgical procedure. He has been among the finest gamers within the league because the begin of Might, raking at a .290/.362/.569 clip with 28 of his residence runs. By measure of wRC+, Seager has been one of many ten finest certified hitters since Might 1.
Whereas this was a step again from final yr’s MVP runner-up exhibiting, Seager’s first few seasons in Arlington couldn’t have gone a lot better. He has been an All-Star in all three years as a Ranger. He has reached 30 homers in every. Texas upset this season, however Seager was clearly the perfect participant on final yr’s World Collection winner. He’ll make $32MM subsequent season earlier than receiving $31MM annual salaries for the ultimate six years of his $325MM free agent contract.
Josh Smith has taken over as the first shortstop in Seager’s absence. He’ll presumably get the vast majority of the taking part in time there within the closing couple weeks of the season. Smith was a uncommon brilliant spot within the Ranger lineup earlier within the yr. He stepped in at third base when Josh Jung was out and was arguably the workforce’s second-best participant behind Seager. Smith’s manufacturing has dropped off sharply within the second half, although he nonetheless carries a formidable .265/.350/.407 slash in 134 video games total.