All eyes will be on the status of reigning World Series MVP Corey Seager when the Texas Rangers open a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night in Arlington, Texas. Seager extended his career-best on-base streak to 28 games with a second-inning single off left-hander Joey Wentz in Wednesday afternoon’s 9-1 victory over visiting Detroit. Seager, however, grabbed the back of his left hamstring as he was getting ready to round first base and he left the game.
“Hamstring tightness,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Being cautious there. See where we’re at after the day off (on Thursday). We don’t think it’s anything serious but just wanted to get him off his legs. Come Friday, we’ll see where we’re at with Corey. It might be a day. We don’t know yet.” Bochy said he didn’t expect his star shortstop to get an MRI. “I felt a little twinge,” Seager said. “I’m fine. We’ll see how the next couple of days go, and just kind of go from there.”
Seager, who missed all but the final three games of spring training after offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia, has had issues with his left hamstring in the past. The four-time All-Star missed 31 games with a left hamstring strain in April 2023 and also missed a month in 2019 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers with another left hamstring injury. “Hopefully, the next couple of days I’ll feel better and we can reassess,” Seager said. The injury comes at a delicate time for the defending World Series champions. Texas is in second place in the American League West, 4 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners. Seager, who hit just .208 with two home runs and six RBIs in April, has been one of the hottest players in baseball since, batting .329 with 11 homers, including eight over an eight-game stretch, to go with 24 RBIs.