Seager left out of lineup vs. Astros amid career-worst slump

HOUSTON -- Rangers shortstop Corey Seager received a needed off-day amid a career-worst 0-for-27 skid as Texas opened its series in Houston on Friday.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said that it was a scheduled off-day to get Seager off his feet, lining up Thursday’s team off-day as a two-for-one. The fact that he is enduring a career-long hitless stretch is mere coincidence, as he had started 24 straight games at shortstop dating back to April 17.

“I honestly hope he doesn't swing a lot,” Schumaker said. “Don't over-swing and overwork. Sit and observe, and be a really good teammate, and watch video and tweak different things. I think the dangerous part with anybody is when they try to swing their way out of it with thousands of swings. I know Corey won't do that.”

Seager is hitless in seven straight games and 0-for-his-last-27 with 11 strikeouts since the sixth inning of a May 6 win at Yankee Stadium. It’s the longest hitless span by both games and at-bats in Seager’s career. Additionally, he is 6-for-61 (.098) with 23 strikeouts over his last 16 games dating back to April 26 to drop his average from .232 to .179, the eighth-lowest average among qualified players in the American League.

Schumaker believes that the biggest issue for Seager is his ability to crush fastballs, especially in the strike zone. He’s either whiffing at them (29.2 whiff percentage on fastballs compared to 22.7% in 2025) or hitting pull-side ground balls.

“Corey is one of the smarter hitters and more regimented hitters that I've ever been around,” Schumaker said. “His routine is as good as I've ever seen anybody [have] … It's always timing. Mishits are always timing, he's probably fighting something mechanically to get to that spot. That's what I think he's been working on lately.”

Schumaker has said multiple times over the last six weeks that he’s not worried about Seager, despite how rough the slump has looked at times.

He holds onto that sentiment.

“There's a few guys that you don't worry about,” Schumaker said. “Of course he wants to produce. I want him to produce. When guys go in funks, there's nobody who wants it more than that guy, right? I want him to hit as much as he wants to hit. He knows that when he is going well, we're usually winning games. That's the truth. We know that once he gets hot, he's gonna carry us and win a lot of games for us. So, no, I'm still not worried about Corey Seager.”