The Rangers’ injury picture didn’t end with the season. A few key names finished 2026 still banged up, and several more are headed into the offseason with questions that could linger well into winter.
President of baseball operations Chris Young gave updates last week on some of the group, though not all of them. In a few cases, the next step may not come until later in the offseason, with a potential lockout looming in December adding another layer of uncertainty.
Corey Seager’s season was interrupted three times by the injured list, with lower back inflammation and a concussion both part of the mix. He still made it to the finish line, playing 102 games and finishing with 20 home runs and 51 RBI, though his .227 batting average was the lowest of his MLB career.
Young said Seager is dealing with a bone spur in his left elbow and that surgery is an option. No timetable was offered.
Seager has five years left on his 10-year, $325 million deal, and because he now has 10 years of MLB service time and five with the same club, he also holds full no-trade rights.
Josh Jung ended the year on the injured list after taking a pitch off his right hand in Minneapolis in the final series of the season, leaving him with a fracture. That came only after he had just returned from a month-long IL stay because of a left calf strain.
Young said surgery is possible, but with the injury still fresh, no decision had been made. Jung had already undergone surgery on that hand in 2024, though on a different part of it.
Even with the late injury, Jung turned in one of the best seasons of his career. He hit .299/.365/.462 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI, all while posting career-best numbers in the slash line. He’s now eligible for arbitration for the second time this offseason.
Tyler Mahle also had his season altered by surgery. He went under the knife in June on his right ankle to remove an extra bone that had been causing pain and affecting his mechanics.
During rehab, he also dealt with biceps soreness. He threw live batting practice on the final day of the season and might have been activated if Texas had reached the postseason.
Based on where his recovery stood, he should be in line for spring training.
Before the surgery, Mahle was 3-7 with a 5.29 ERA in 15 starts. He’s one of four players Young wants to see take a step forward in 2026.
Cole Winn spent the end of the season on the 60-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain. His placement there meant he wouldn’t have been available in the postseason anyway.
Young didn’t give a specific update, but Winn hadn’t pitched after Aug. 25, so he’s already had more than a month of rest and recovery. He’s likely to be ready for spring training.
Winn finished 5-3 with a 5.63 ERA in 51 games, a downturn from 2025, when he went 0-1 with a 1.51 ERA.
The Rule 5 draft pick who opened the year on the Rangers’ roster missed most of the season with a right intercostal strain. He was already working through rehab outings in the minors before the season ended, but there was never any expectation that he would be activated for the postseason.
Since he was already on a rehab assignment, spring training availability looks like the reasonable assumption. But because he did not log enough innings to lose his Rule 5 status, Texas will have to keep him on the major league roster or else offer him back to the club it selected him from so he can be claimed or become a free agent.
Jose Corniell dealt with a right flexor strain that he suffered on July 20. He was eventually moved to the 60-day injured list, and there was no expectation he would be active in the postseason. The Rangers never said whether surgery was on the table for the Top 30 prospect.
Otanez missed the final few games because of a viral illness. Texas did not say what the illness was, and because he is on the 40-man roster, the Rangers control his rights for 2027.
The group of injured players heading toward free agency could shape Texas’ decisions this winter. That list starts with Cal Quantrill, who was the Rangers’ most effective starter down the stretch before a right lat strain in the next-to-last week of the season sent him to the 15-day injured list and then the 60-day IL. That move made it clear Texas didn’t expect him back in the postseason, and the club never revealed how severe the injury was.
Jalen Beeks first went on the 15-day IL on June 11 with lower back spasms. During his comeback process, he then suffered a left elbow injury that required surgery. That procedure was for a flexor tendon strain, and it means he won’t be available to any team until sometime in 2027.
Kyle Higashioka landed on the 10-day IL with a right flexor strain shortly after the All-Star break and never returned. He did appear in 11 rehab games for Triple-A Round Rock, but he was never brought back to the big-league roster.
The rehab work makes surgery seem unlikely, though it still can’t be ruled out. Higashioka and the Rangers have a mutual option for 2027, and Texas already has two catchers under contract or team control.
Joc Pederson fractured his left hand in mid-September and tried to play through it before eventually being moved to the 10-day IL, where he stayed for the rest of the season. It’s still unclear whether he’ll need surgery this offseason, and Young did not address the injury because Pederson is headed for free agency. His team option with the Rangers is one the club is unlikely to pick up.
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