The Texas Rangers will start Memorial Day with a home contest against the Houston Astros on Monday, part of a four-game series with their AL West rivals.
The Rangers come back home after a nine-game road trip in which they went 3-6, a disappointing mark given that Texas was facing three teams that were under .500. While that was happening, the Astros swept the Chicago Cubs and tightened in the AL West race.
Houston is still under .500 but is only 4.5 games back of the front-running Athletics, who are 27-26. The Rangers are 2.5 games back.
With the homestand starting Monday, here are the Rangers’ most notable injury updates.
Wyatt Langford
Langford appears to be trending in the right direction. The outfielder participated in more baseball activities before Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Shawn McFarland (subscription required). Manager Skip Schumacher said the plan for Langford in Arlington is to participate in a live batting practice.
Live batting practice is usually the last hurdle that injured players must clear before they can go on a rehab assignment. It’s designed to simulate game action. Schumacher did not say what the timeline was for Langford after the live BP.
Langford has been on the 10-day injured list since April 22 with a right forearm strain. He was slashing .238/.274/.363 with one home run and four RBI at the time of the injury. He nearly returned in early May but suffered a setback during a rehab game in Arizona and was shut down.
Corey Seager
The update isn’t nearly as good for Seager. He participated in a workout in the weight room at Angel Stadium on Friday as part of his rehab and suffered a setback. Schumaker told McFarland and other reporters that the left-handed slugger will likely need another week before he is re-evaluated.
Texas placed him on the injured list last week with lower back inflammation the hope was that he would be able to join the Rangers on the field for the homestand. That timeline makes that unlikely. After a week of re-evaluation, Seager would likely need to re-engage in baseball activities and participate in a live batting practice before he goes on a rehab assignment, which seems likely now that he’s entering his second week on the IL.
Seager was slashing .179/.286/.353 with seven home runs and 20 RBI before he went on the injured list
Josh Jung
Jung was not in the Rangers’ lineup on Sunday against the Angels. He was also unavailable, per Schumaker to reporters at the game. Jung left Saturday’s game with left shoulder soreness after he dove for a ground ball in the third inning of that game. It’s the same shoulder that required labrum surgery several years ago.
Jung told McFarland that he the shoulder was “pretty sore” on Sunday. Jung had not had imaging on the shoulder, but Schumaker said that all tests by the medical staff cleared Jung of any significant damage.
Jung has been the team’s best offensive player this season. He is slashing .302/.357/.462 with five home runs and 21 RBI in 48 games. Without him on Sunday Texas started Ezequiel Duran at third base.
