ARLINGTON — The risk no longer outweighs the reward.
The Texas Rangers have officially shut down both shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien with team all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with less than a week to play.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said before Tuesday’s series opener vs. the Minnesota Twins that it’s “not worth the risk” to continue either player’s ramp up with only five games left to play. The Rangers, who were five games back of the American League’s third Wild Card berth Tuesday afternoon, will be eliminated from playoff contention if both the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox win one of their next six games.
Seager underwent an appendectomy on Aug. 28 and hasn’t played in a game since. Bochy said that he’s “not quite ready” to return. Semien hasn’t played since he fouled a pitch off of the top of his left foot in an Aug. 21 game against the Kansas City Royals. The 35-year-old took live batting practice and ran during the club’s series vs. the Miami Marlins this past weekend in his attempt to return while the team still had playoff hopes.
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This is the second-straight year in which Seager’s season ended early. He missed all but two September games last season after he underwent sports hernia repair surgery. Semien had missed just four total games in his first three seasons with the Rangers. His 127 games played this year are his fewest in any full season since the 2017 campaign.
Bochy said the decisions were mutual and acknowledged that there’s a “chance” that the circumstances might’ve been different had the Rangers qualified for the postseason.
But, at a certain point, preservations becomes a priority. That’s why right-handed pitcher Jacob deGrom — who’s now made 29 starts in his first full season back from elbow surgery — will only pitch once in the season’s final week instead of twice.
The 37-year-old could have started both Tuesday vs. the Twins and in Sunday’s seasons finale against the Cleveland Guardians. Instead he’ll only pitch Wednesday vs. the Twins and record his first 30-start season in six years. His 167⅔ innings thrown this year are already the most since the 2019 season and more than his last three combined.
“We could’ve pitched him twice,” Bochy said. “Unfortunately, with what’s happened, we deviated from that plan.”
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