ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers activated shortstop Corey Seager off of the injured list prior to Wednesday’s series finale vs. the Toronto Blue Jays.
Seager, who hasn’t played since May 11, has missed the Rangers’ last 16 games because of a right hamstring strain and has missed 26 games overall this season spanned across two different IL stints to address the injury.
He will start at designated hitter and bat third vs. the Blue Jays in his return.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged Tuesday that the injury-induced vacancy at designated hitter did make it easier to activate Seager when they did, but, the 31-year-old is still expected to remain the club’s everyday shortstop.
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He’s played in just five games since he first irritated his hamstring on April 22 against the Athletics. The Rangers have gone 13-20 since then and have been one of baseball’s worst offenses during that span. They’ve gotten a league-worst .634 OPS out of the shortstop position since Seager was placed on the injured list for the first time this season on April 23.
Seager, a five-time All-Star, can help remedy that. He’s slashed .300/.346/.520 with 6 home runs in 26 games played this season and his 1.6 WAR is still the second-best among Texas hitters, according to Baseball Reference, despite the fact that he’s missed more than half of the team’s games. Only outfielder Wyatt Langford (2.0 WAR) has been a more valuable position player.
In a corresponding move, the Rangers optioned infielder Blaine Crim to Triple-A Round Rock.
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