Well, at least Corey Seager won’t have to go far.
Seager, who returned to Arlington from Houston after the Rangers won two of three games against the Astros, was named to the American League All-Star team on Sunday night in place of Minnesota’s Carlos Correa. The game will be played Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
This will be Seager’s fifth All-Star appearance. He has been selected to the All-Star team three consecutive seasons since signing a 10-year, $325 million contract with the Rangers. Manager Bruce Bochy will add a third Rangers player to his squad. Marcus Semien will start at second base, with Kirby Yates in the bullpen. Outfielder Adoris Garcia is scheduled to take part in Monday’s Home Run Derby.
Seager, who missed all but the final day of spring training in Arizona while recovering from sports hernia surgery, is batting .270 with an .834 OPS and a team-high 18 home runs this season. He’s batting .333 over the past three weeks, and his 13-game hitting streak was snapped during the Rangers’ recently concluded road trip. Seager has reached base in 18 straight games.
Seager and Colville’s Bobby Witt Jr. will back up Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson. Correa, who was selected as a reserve, is dealing with plantar fasciitis.
The announcement came just hours after Josh Smith, one of the Rangers’ most productive players in the first half, hit two home runs in the Rangers’ all-time 4-2 win over Houston. Smith was on the ballot as the third baseman, primarily filling in for the injured Josh Jung.
Boasting a team-best OPS of .861, Smith entered the game ranked 11th in the AL in WAR according to Fangraphs. He has the highest WAR among players not selected to the All-Star team. However, he did not finish in the top three in the fan or player polls, which determine who will be selected as a reserve. Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez was selected as the starter, with Rafael Devers named as the reserve. With Devers sidelined due to injury, Baltimore’s Jordan Westberg was added.
But Seager’s All-Star break with the Rangers will be his easiest yet. In 2022, he traveled from Arlington to Los Angeles for a game, then immediately to Miami, making up one of the early-season games postponed because of the lockout. A year ago, the Rangers finished the first half in Washington, D.C., and Seager and the Rangers players had to fly across the country.
This year, Seager and the Rangers were scheduled to finish the first half of the season in Houston before returning to Arlington on Sunday evening. After the break, the Rangers have another week at home against Baltimore and the Chicago White Sox.
Twitter/X: Evan Grant
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