Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager to undergo season-ending sports hernia surgery

SEATTLE – Corey Seager's season is officially done.

He will miss his second straight offseason recovering from a sports hernia. Difference: This time he doesn't wait for the injury to heal on its own. Seager will undergo surgery Friday to repair a hernia on the right side of his groin, on the opposite side of his surgery in January. Although GM Chris Young did not have an exact timeline for Seager's recovery, he said that having surgery now should give Seager plenty of time for post-op rehabilitation and should be fully ready to go when the Rangers report to spring training in February.

“Every surgery is different,” Young said. “I can't commit to what that timeline will be, but I think the surgery decision now will give him the best chance to have a strong offseason.

“The offseason is important for every player, not just players rehabbing or coming off surgery. It's time to really work and prepare for next season, so they can arrive at spring training in great shape and ready for a strong, healthy year. When you don't have that kind of offseason, you start a little bit behind the eight ball.

Seager dealt with a sports hernia late in the 2023 season, then played through the postseason with it, eventually winning the World Series MVP. He tried to rest from the injury last offseason, but it didn't improve enough and he underwent surgery on Jan. 30 in Arizona to repair a left side groin injury. He then spent most of spring training rehabbing it and surprisingly didn't take an at-bat in a game until the second-to-last day. Dr. Venkata Ivani, who performed the surgery in January, saw Seeger this week in Phoenix. Dr. Ivany will perform the surgery on Friday as well.

It's not unusual for a player to have problems with both sides, Young said. He cites his own experience as a player who had bilateral hernia repairs. He said Siger's injury last year didn't appear to compromise the right side, but he realized that once one side of the muscle that connects to the pelvis is weakened, the other side often has to compensate.

Seager, 30, has been at IL since Sept. 4. He hit his 30th homer of the season in Chicago on August 29, giving him three consecutive 30-homer seasons since joining the Rangers. For the year, he played in 123 games, 113 at shortstop. Seager has been limited to less than 125 games in each of the last two seasons. In 2023, he dealt with a hamstring strain that cost him a month and a sprained thumb that cost him 10 days.

In Seager's absence, the Rangers primarily used infielder Josh Smith at shortstop, although Jonathan Ornelas and Ezequiel Duran both got starts. Smith, however, is running on fumes. He's already made 525 plate appearances, more than the total from his first two seasons in the majors, and his offensive production showed a significant decline late in the season. He started the Seattle series on August 1st slashing just .224/.274/.304/.578.

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