Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager is currently dealing with appendicitis and will undergo an appendectomy, with no timetable currently set for his return to the field.
Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young announced the surgery on Thursday and said that the team “will be without him for a period of time,” refusing to specify how quickly Seager could make his return, per The Dallas Morning News.
Young did state that this recovery time could be as short as two or three weeks, which would allow Seasger to return before the season ends, or that the shortstop could miss the entire remainder of the regular season.
During his remarks, Young said that Seager is an “extremely impactful” player for the Rangers, calling the injury a “tough blow” during an already difficult season.
“I will express that Corey did not want to rule out the season, and in fact, he’s been researching athletes who’ve come back from this quickly,” he explained, according to MLB.com.
Seager has put together a solid season for the Rangers this year with a batting average of .271 while ranking 18th in the MLB with an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .860.
This season has also seen Seager hit 21 home runs and collect 50 RBIs.
Moving forward, Young added the expectation is that Josh Smith is likely “to get the lion’s share” of time at the shortstop position to fill in for Seager.
This injury comes at a disastrous time for the Rangers, as this team is looking to sneak into the playoff picture with only 27 games left in the regular season.
Seager’s appendicitis is not the only health issue that the team is dealing with, as starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is likely done for the season following a rotator cuff strain, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
With the season coming to a close within the next month, the Rangers must begin stacking wins for this team to have a chance at even making the postseason.