The Texas Rangers are 24-25 on the season, below .500, but they’re still just one game back of the AL West lead over the Athletics.
Even with how much the team has struggled, and injury issues for Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford, among others, they’re not in a terrible spot this season. But, if there is one concern, it would be the production of Seager.
He has a .179 average this season and is someone Rangers fans might be worried about beginning to decline in his MLB career. But, ex-MLB general manager Jim Bowden for The Athletic projected that this isn’t a decline for Seager, but rather a speed bump due to injury.
Corey Seager isn’t declining, just fighting through injury per ex-MLB GM
“My best guess: He’ll rebound,” Bowden writes. “…Given he’s on the IL with ab ack injury, it’s entirely possible the slow start has more to do with that injury (which may have been lingering before it was an IL issue) than age-related decline.”
Seager, even with his poor .179 batting average, has posted 0.8 bWAR this season and a 91 OPS+. He’s below-average, and well below the lofty 146 OPS+ he’s had with the Rangers the last four years.
But, even with the struggles from Seager this season, Bowden isn’t worried that the 12-year veteran is declining. The 32-year-old infielder might have just been feeling the negative side effects of his back injury.
If he can come back from the injured list and begin producing for the Rangers, those decline concerns will be completely dispelled.
That will be a huge test for Seager, because if he struggles coming off the IL, then there will be a lot more concerns about his current All-Star production being firmly in the rear-view mirror.
But, it’s still too soon to actually worry that Seager is declining, especially since his back injury, which landed him on the IL, is very possibly the reason for his below-average start to the season.
He will need to be watched closely going forward in case his decline is for real. But, fans shouldn’t stress about Seager declining just yet, just as Bowden isn’t ready to write Seager off just yet.
