Corey Seager’s body keeps forcing the conversation the Rangers probably hoped they wouldn’t have to have yet.
The Texas shortstop has already landed on the injured list three times this season, and the pattern has been building since 2023. After playing nearly every game in 2022, Seager has been on the IL every year in Texas.
In 2023, it was a hamstring and a right thumb strain. In 2024, two sports hernia surgeries ended up bookending the season.
In 2025, a hamstring strain led to two IL stints, plus an appendectomy.
This year has brought a lower back issue, a concussion, and now the same lower back problem that sent him to the injured list last week. He’s eligible to return later this week, but he’s not moving nearly as quickly as Wyatt Langford, who is on the IL with a hamstring injury.
On Tuesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News spoke with Seager, and the update was limited. Seager is still being treated for the back issue.
He’s not swinging a bat. He’s not close to baseball activities, and a rehab assignment is not on the table yet.
The more interesting part came when Grant asked whether it might be time for Seager to think about a different position. That idea makes sense on paper.
Seager is 32, has five years left on his contract, and back problems tend to linger. A move away from shortstop - maybe to first base or even designated hitter - could help him stay on the field more often.
It’s a path plenty of players have taken late in their careers. Catchers do it all the time.
Some players eventually slide to DH when their defense becomes the issue. Seager isn’t an elite defender, but he’s also not a liability at shortstop.
The question is whether staying there is becoming the bigger risk.
The bat has been part of the problem too. Before his first IL stint in May, Seager went 27 straight at-bats without a hit.
He’s hitting .182/.292/.374 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI in 51 games. And he hasn’t topped 123 games in any of the last three seasons, with his current pace pointing to another year below that mark in 2025.
That’s where the tension sits for Texas. The Rangers signed Seager to a 10-year deal, the largest contract in franchise history, because of his offense.
But if he can’t stay healthy, he can’t produce. And if he won’t move off shortstop to help keep himself on the field, that becomes a major long-term problem for the Rangers.
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