Shortstop Corey Seager couldn’t avoid the 10-day injured list because of a strained right hamstring, but the Texas Rangers believe he will need only the minimum IL stay.

All signs Tuesday night pointed to the Texas Rangers placing Corey Seager on the injured list Wednesday afternoon, and that’s what they did after an MRI exam showed a strain in his right hamstring.

But the Rangers anticipate that Seager will need only the 10-day minimum stay, and that rated as good news — possibly the best news they could have received — about a player who seemed to be perennially hampered by leg issues.

Seager could be reinstated May 2 against the Mariners.

The Rangers did not reach into Triple A Round Rock for Seager’s replacement, instead purchasing the minor-league contract of veteran shortstop Nick Ahmed. Ahmed spent spring training with the Rangers before asking for his release after camp ended, but the sides agreed last week on a new minor-league deal.

Ahmed had been working out at the Rangers’ spring complex in Surprise, Ariz. That’s where left-hander Walter Pennington was working before he was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Ahmed.

Ahmed started at shortstop Wednesday night against the A’s, but manager Bruce Bochy said that Josh Smith will get most of the work while Seager is out. Smith pinch hit for Ahmed in the seventh inning, grounding out to end the frame.

The Rangers lost 5-2 to the A’s as right-hander Kumar Rocker made it only 1 2/3 innings in the follow-up to his splendid outing last week.

The Seager hamstring strain is the third of his career that forced him to the IL, though the previous two were to his left hamstring. It’s the second time with the Rangers that a hamstring has sidelined him.

He has played through other leg issues, including to start this season after a late-spring calf tweak trickled into the regular season. Seager served as the DH on Opening Day.

Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com