ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager left Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after he sprained his right thumb on a headfirst slide on a double in the eighth inning against his former team.
Seager was initially called out on right fielder Mookie Betts‘ throw from the right-center field gap. The Rangers challenged the play, but Seager was already headed back to the dugout with his right arm hanging low, and the All-Star clearly in discomfort.
Manager Bruce Bochy said X-rays on Seager’s thumb were negative. Seager’s right hand jammed awkwardly into the bag as he slid in and reached to beat the tag of second baseman Miguel Rojas.
“So I’d put him day to day right now. Obviously, you hate to see that,” Bochy said after the 11-5 loss. “Hopefully he comes in feeling better tomorrow.”
The out call was overturned on replay. Josh Smith then came in to run for Seager, who hit his 15th homer in the sixth to put the AL West-leading Rangers ahead 5-4.
It is the second time this season that Seager has gotten hurt significantly while running the bases. He was running out an opposite-field double into the left-field corner against Kansas City on April 11, when he appeared to make the turn around first base cleanly before pulling up after a few steps and gingerly going to second base.
He missed 31 games then, though the Rangers went 19-12 without the shortstop who is in the second season of his $325 million, 10-year deal in Texas.
Seager was the MVP of both the 2020 World Series and NL Championship Series when the Dodgers won at Globe Life Field during the neutral-site playoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the last time Los Angeles had played there before Friday night’s series opener.