Corey Seager injury update: Rangers star likely headed to IL after thumb injury

Corey Seager has settled in with the Rangers in his second season with the team, hitting like an MVP candidate when healthy. Unfortunately, he hasn't always been healthy.

Seager missed 31 games with a hamstring injury earlier in the season, and he's now dealing with a thumb injury after getting hurt against his former team on Friday night.

The Rangers lead the AL West by three games, and Seager has been a massive part of their surge to relevance this season. The former World Series MVP is batting .350 with 15 home runs and a 1.044 OPS across 66 games, positioning himself close behind Shohei Ohtani in the AL MVP race despite the time he missed.

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Here's what you need to know about Seager's latest injury and whether he could be facing another absence.

Corey Seager injury update

Seager suffered a thumb injury on a slide against the Dodgers on Friday. Fortunately, x-rays revealed he avoided a fracture.

The initial diagnosis was a sprained thumb, and manager Bruce Bochy called Seager "day-to-day." However, the Rangers went ahead and placed Seager on the 10-day IL Saturday.

Additional Rangers roster moves for Saturday:
-SS Corey Seager placed on the 10-day Injured List (right thumb sprain)
-C Sam Huff recalled from Round Rock (AAA)

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) July 22, 2023

Rangers Today's Jeff Wilson reported Saturday that Seager is set to undergo an MRI and first indicated that an IL stint was coming.

Corey Seager has gone for an MRI. #Rangers expect to know more before the game, but there seems to be an expectation that he will need time on the IL.

— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilsonTXR) July 22, 2023

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The Rangers will hope Seager avoided serious ligament damage in his thumb, as any missed time for the all-star would be a major blow to a powerful Texas offense.

Seager has been one of the AL's most valuable players this season despite missing roughly a third of the Rangers' games, though Texas has held up well in the standings without him. The Rangers are 19-13 (.594) in games Seager doesn't play, compared to 39-27 (.591) with him in the lineup.

Ezequiel Duran, who started 26 games at shortstop earlier in the season, was in the lineup at the position on Saturday.