Corey Seager Was Playing Through an Elbow Bone Spur, Rangers Reveal

Corey Seager's worst season at the plate has a new footnote. The Rangers shortstop spent the second half with a bone spur in his elbow, Texas baseball boss Chris Young said Monday, a day after the club's season ended.

Young said Seager had been dealing with it for a couple of months. Nobody had mentioned an elbow problem before this week. The team hasn't settled on a plan yet, and surgery is on the table, but Young said that if it happens "it'll be minor and he should make a full recovery."

It helps explain a .227 average, the lowest of Seager's career. He played 102 games for the second straight year after three trips to the injured list: twice for lower back inflammation and once for a concussion from a home-plate collision in June. He still reached 20 homers for the fifth season in a row, getting there with a two-run shot in the ninth inning on Sunday in his last at-bat of the year.

Seager, 32, has five seasons left on his 10-year, $325 million contract. He has averaged just over 111 games a year over the last four seasons, and that is the number the Rangers most need to change.

deGrom and Jung

Young said Jacob deGrom, 38, needs only rest after pitching through groin tightness and left hip soreness late in the year. deGrom went 11-11 with a career-worst 4.20 ERA over 31 starts. Third baseman Josh Jung, who batted .299 before a pitch broke his right hand Friday, may or may not need surgery, and catcher Danny Jansen could have a small hand procedure.

Texas finished 80-82, one game behind Houston for the AL West, and has now missed the playoffs three years running since winning the 2023 World Series. The offseason starts with Seager's elbow.