Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager is moving through a seven-day ramp-up in baseball activities, but Monday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox is not expected to be his return date.
Manager Skip Schumaker has made it clear he does not trust injury timetables, and he has avoided putting one on Seager, who is on the 10-day injured list with his second lower back injury. Even so, Schumaker said Friday that the club had Seager on a seven-day progression. Sunday was day three of that plan.
The early stages have been steady. On Friday, Seager did light, straight-line running and throwing.
Saturday brought hitting balls off a tee and working through hitting progressions. By Sunday, according to MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, he was hitting soft toss in a cage and taking ground balls at shortstop.
That kind of rehab work is all about testing the back in different ways. Tee work lets Seager swing with less stress and check how his lower back handles torque.
Soft toss adds a moving ball and a more game-like swing. The defensive work does something similar, forcing him to field at shortstop and throw across his body to first base instead of simply playing catch.
Seager’s latest injury happened after pre-game warmups and right before the game started. He never got to bat.
What comes next could be batting practice, either off a machine in the internal cages at Globe Life Field or with the team on the field. A more demanding infield session would also fit naturally into the next phase.
Before the Rangers bring him back, there are several boxes to check. Seager needs to go through an infield session at full speed, run the bases at full speed, throw at full speed and take live batting practice, which is typically the final hurdle for a position player.
Once he clears those steps and recovers well, the Rangers can activate him. Schumaker may not like timelines, but he knows exactly what the club is waiting on: getting its shortstop back as soon as possible.
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