A day after his three-run home run beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers slugger Corey Seager is back on the bench with a hamstring issue.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Seager felt some tightness in his left hamstring before Thursday's series finale at Dodger Stadium, and he was scratched from the lineup out of an abundance of caution.
Seager left a game on May 5 after running out an RBI single with left hamstring tightness. He missed the next four games and finally returned to the lineup as the designated hitter Wednesday night against his former team, the Dodgers. He was 1 for 3 with a walk and a three-run, fifth-inning homer, which was the difference in Texas' 3-2 win.
The Rangers declined to do an MRI on Seager's hamstring, claiming it wasn't a serious enough strain to warrant the scan. Seager missed 31 games with left hamstring issues in 2023.
"Once he started to get ready [before Thursday's game] there's still a little tightness there in the leg so we just can't afford to lose him," Bochy said. "We're being cautious here."
Bochy said Seager is likely not play Friday's series opener in Seattle.
"Trust me, it's not easy to take him out and he would push it, but I had to make the call and do what is right," he said. "When you have an impact player like that, it's worth waiting to see if this is going to clear up sooner."
Seager is batting .358 with nine homers and 17 RBI in his past 15 games.
