Seager out for the rest of the season with sports hernia

SEATTLE — Corey Seager will undergo surgery on Friday for a sports hernia on his right side and miss the remainder of the 2024 season, Rangers GM Chris Young announced on Thursday.

Seager, who has been on the 10-day injured list with right hip discomfort, hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 2. Young said that barring complications, Seager will be fully back in time for Spring Training next year.

“Obviously a tough decision,” Young said, sitting in the visitor’s dugout at T-Mobile Park before the Rangers opened a four-game set against the Mariners. “But with where we are at this point in the season, it felt like it was the prudent decision in order for him to have a full recovery, have a strong offseason and be ready for Spring Training.

“Obviously I feel for Corey, but he’s had a tremendous year, been a great leader in the clubhouse and on the field for us. His performance has been amazing, and we’re looking forward to getting him back healthy next year.”

This will be the second sports hernia surgery for the Rangers shortstop this year, as he underwent an operation in January for a hernia on his left side, to deal with an issue that arose in the final weeks of last season and the Rangers’ run to the World Series.

“He recovered great from the first surgery, and I’m confident he’ll do everything he can to recover great from the second one,” Young said.

To Young, who himself underwent bilateral sports hernia repair as a player, Seager’s hip injury could certainly have played a factor.

“These muscles attached to your pelvis, they stabilize your pelvis,” he said. “When one side becomes unstable, the other side has to absorb it. It’s kind of natural that you have bilateral issues.”

With Seager out, Josh Smith made his eighth start in the past nine games at shortstop Thursday.

The 30-year-old shortstop hit .278 with an .865 OPS in 123 games this season. His 30 home runs still lead the Rangers, despite not having played the past 10 days.

“He’s so important to us and our franchise and our future, to ask him to continue to play and finish out the season in pain where he could compromise himself or make it worse, it made no sense.” Young said. “The right decision here was to go ahead and have the operation and have a full recovery.”