Corey Seager said he’s feeling better at the plate, and Skip Schumaker believes a breakthrough is imminent. The Texas Rangers need their best player to be more productive.
ARLINGTON — The player who rarely shows emotion when things are going well for him and the Texas Rangers also doesn’t flip out when he’s not hitting.
No punching walls or turning over tables or kicking the dog, figuratively or literally. No animals have been harmed during this Corey Seager season-opening slump.
“I love them too much,” he said.
Seager also loves to swing the bat, and that hasn’t slowed during the Rangers’ first quarter of the season. Making contact has slowed, as his .209 average with 42 strikeouts entering Friday suggested.
He’s been around long enough to know that he has to work his way out of his slump, that the solution isn’t in reinventing the wheel but in working toward what has made him so good in the past.
A more productive Seager is the main ingredient missing from a Rangers offense that again ranks among the worst in baseball and is the worst in baseball at home. A dose of a healthy Wyatt Langford is also needed, but Seager is capable of carrying the load on his own.
“You just keep working through it,” he said. “I feel better. Not as many hits as you’d like, but I’m starting to feel better.”
Manager Skip Schumaker saw progress on the Rangers’ road trip, even though Seager went only 5 for 23 (.217). Schumaker saw a lot of loud outs and walks, which indicates to him that Seager is seeing the ball and improving his timing.
Seager leads the team with seven home runs, but his average, on-base percentage (.316) and slugging percentage (.410) are all down.
Schumaker also knows that the first two months of the season historically have been the worst of Seager’s career, though not this unproductive. The road trip, which included hits in four of the six games, could be a sign of better things to come.
“The swings were real,” Schumaker said. “A couple of times he got robbed to fear Seager the most. Opposing teams bring in their best left-hander to face him or their base reliever. The Yankees brought in closer David Bendar on Tuesday with one out in the eighth inning to face Seager, who batted as the potential game-tying run.
Bendar won that battle, and the Yankees won the game. Seager homered in his next at-bat, in the first inning Wednesday night. He’s getting there, even if it’s more slowly than he’d like.
“You’re always trying to get back to what you did, whether it’s sticking to or making the adjustments to get back there,” Seager said. “It’s always trying to get back to the same spot.”
Langford continues to rest the strain in his right forearm after he felt more discomfort there last week in an extended spring game in Arizona. He could get an additional week to let the strain heal before restarting his swing progression.
The Rangers felt as if Langford was finding his footing before being slowed by a minor quad strain and then the forearm strain. His absence and Seager’s sluggish start have contributed to the Rangers having the 28th-fewest runs in the 30-team major leagues.
The lack of production led to Schumaker playing Joc Pederson in right field Thursday, knowing full well that he was a risk defensively. Brandon Nimmo was limited to designated hitter as he managed hamstring tightness.
He was back in right field Friday.
“You’re just trying to find different ways,” Schumaker said. “Guys are going to be playing out of position just because of some injuries and some guys nursing some injuries. When you’re still trying to find offense and trying to find ways to win, you’re going to sacrifice something to get something.”
A hot Seager and healthy Langford would help. One is closer than the other. Based on the last road trip, Seager’s hot stretch could be imminent.
“This version is, in my opinion, what you’re going to see the next five months,” Schumaker said.
Jeff Wilson, jwilson@alldlls.com
