Seager activated from IL, returns to Rangers' lineup

TORONTO -- The Rangers are one step closer to being fully healthy.

The club activated shortstop Corey Seager from the seven-day concussion injured list ahead of Thursday's series opener against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Seager last played on June 11, when he collided with Royals catcher Carter Jensen at home plate in the first inning of a game at Kauffman Stadium. Seager stayed in the game and even homered in the third inning, but he dealt with concussion symptoms in the days that followed and was placed on the 7-day IL on June 15 (retroactive to June 12).

He missed the Rangers’ last 12 games, a stretch in which the club went 4-8. He also missed 19 games in May and early June with lower back inflammation. Since the start of the 2023 campaign, Texas is 204-187 (.522) in games in which Seager appears and 83-92 (.474) without Seager.

“He's really excited to be back,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “We're excited for him to be back. He was obviously really frustrated the last week or so that it just was not trending the way he thought he was going to trend. It just never came together in the last couple days in Miami, and now he's ready to come back. So it's great to see him.”

Seager went 5-for-21 with a walk and a pair of homers in his five games off the previous injured list stint, but is slashing just .186/.284/.373 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs on the season.

Schumaker said they will continue to manage Seager’s workload, at least until the next team off-day on July 3. The club is currently in a stretch of 15 games in 15 days.

"We'll talk to him after every game,” Schumaker said. “I’m just not gonna play him 10 in a row. We want to make sure he feels good after the game, make sure he feels good the next day. So it could be two on, one off. It could be one on, one off, that type of thing early on. I think we'll probably do that until the off-day at home and then see what it looks like after that off-day. But yes, I'm not gonna run him out there right away every day.”

Utilityman Ezequiel Duran has been seeing increased action at shortstop with Seager missing so much time, but he shifted over to third base on Thursday. Regular third baseman Josh Jung, who went 0-for-13 with five K's in the previous three games, was out of the lineup. Schumaker said it was just a scheduled off day to get Jung off his feet.

“Duran is very capable at third and that is the benefit of having Corey back,” Schumaker said. “It allows other guys to go back into some of their positions and their roles. It also gives other guys days off while still getting production at that position.”

In other moves, the Rangers placed Cody Freeman on the 10-day IL (retroactive to Monday) with a herniated disc. Freeman went 4-for-17 (.235) with a walk and one run scored in seven games for the Rangers after being recalled earlier this month. He had been sidelined with a lumbar stress reaction suffered in Spring Training.

The club also released infielder Blaine Crim on Wednesday. Texas claimed Crim off waivers from the Rockies on May 23 and optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock. He joined Colorado last August when the club selected him off waivers from Texas. The 29-year-old hasn't appeared in the big leagues this season.