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Corey Seager is going through an unprecedented crisis in the big leagues.
The two-time World Series MVP shortstop is hitless in his last seven games with the Texas Rangers. It’s part of a longer 0-for-27 stretch, also a career-worst, that includes 11 strikeouts.
“You’re always working on things and you’d like to see better results, but you’re not getting them,” Seager said after going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a wild 6-5 win over Arizona on Wednesday night.
While he started 42 of the Rangers’ 43 games, Seager, 32, said that physically he felt “totally fine.” He has played 24 straight games since his lone game on April 16.
“It’s one of those things you’re going to find out there,” Seager said. “That’s always been my focus, right, you’re going to figure it out as you swing. So right now, I just want to keep going and trying to figure it out.”
Corey Seager has never wrestled this long or to this degree before. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
The Rangers had an off day Thursday, when his .179 batting average ranked 167th out of 174 qualified MLB hitters. Seager, in the fifth season of a 10-year, $325 million contract, has 28 hits and 22 walks, but 50 strikeouts account for 27.5 percent of his 182 plate appearances. He has seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
His last hit was an RBI single in the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium on May 6. Seager’s solo homer in the first inning gave Texas the lead to stay in this 6-1 win over New York, but strikeouts in his final two at-bats began his hitless streak. He is 6-for-61 (.098) with 23 Ks over his last 16 games.
It was the last of his 12 seasons where Seager, a career .285 hitter in 4,500 at-bats in 1,173 games, was below .200. He has never finished a game under that mark in eight of those seasons, including three times he went 1-for-5 (.200) in the first games (2016, 2020 and 2024) before having at least three hits in the second game.
“Corey still feels good,” first-year Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “I like him in the lineup. So I’m going to continue to put him there if his body feels good and his mind feels good. And it does, so that part is good.”
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Schumaker acknowledged that there was a date chosen so that Seager could sit out a game during one of the team’s off days. The manager did not say whether it would be Friday in Houston, or whether it would coincide with their only scheduled day off this month, next Thursday between the road series against Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels.
Texas lost first baseman Jake Burger for two games last weekend. He went 3 for 3 Tuesday night, then matched a career high with four RBIs Wednesday, a three-run homer then a game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning.
Seager was hitting .194 after 10 games last year, which was his last mark below .200, then went 14 for 30 (.467) in his next eight games. He finished the season hitting .271 with 21 home runs and 50 RBIs, even with an 0-for-25 streak over six games in June. He was limited to 102 total games due to hamstring issues and an appendectomy.
“Someone told me a long time ago … that when you’re in a funk, it just means you’re going to be really, really hot,” Schumaker said. “There are some really big names right now that have had a tough few months, and that’s a good start to the season. And that just means, in my opinion, he’s going to have a really good five months.”
Associated Press reporting.
