The first place Texas Rangers have lost their best hitter for a significant period of time. The club placed shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, the team announced Wednesday. He will miss a minimum of four weeks, GM Chris Young told reporters.
Seager suffered the injury legging out a double in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's game. Here's the video:
"You hate to see it, because he's been on fire. I mean, he is just squaring up everything," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com after Tuesday's game. "... There's some tightness there and we'll see where we're at tomorrow."
Seager, 29 later this month, owns a .359/.469/.538 batting line with four doubles, one home run, and more walks (nine) than strikeouts (seven) in the early going. With Seager sidelined, Bochy indicated the Rangers will install utility man Josh H. Smith at shortstop rather than slide Marcus Semien over. Leody Taveras has been activated to take Seager's roster spot.
The Rangers are 7-4 with a plus-23 run differential so far this season. They have the AL West's best record and run differential, and are third in MLB in runs scored. That said, losing Seager is a major blow to team's contention hopes. He's a difference-making bat.
