Seager and Semien done for season for Rangers; deGrom will make his last scheduled start

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager and Marcus Semien won't try to return to play this week for the Texas Rangers, ending the fourth season together for middle infielders who have been sidelined since late August.

“They’re done. They’re pretty much shut down,” manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday before the Rangers' 4-1 loss against Minnesota to open their final home series.

Semien has been out since Aug. 22, after the second baseman sustained a broken bone and sprained ligament when fouling a pitch off his left foot. That was a week before shortstop Seager had an appendectomy.

While Seager and Semien are done and the Rangers are out of playoff contention, Bochy said Jacob deGrom (12-8, 3.01 ERA) will make his last scheduled start Wednesday against the Twins. It will be the two-time Cy Young Award winner's 30th start this year after missing most of the past two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.

DeGrom already has thrown 167 2/3 innings this season, after only 35 starts and 197 1/3 innings combined the past four seasons. That included his final two injury-plagued years with the New York Mets before leaving in free agency and then having surgery after only six starts in his Rangers debut in 2023, the season of their only World Series title.

“He wants to pitch,” Bochy said.

Seager and Semien were a half-billion dollar addition for the Rangers in free agency after the 2021 season, when Seager got a $325 million, 10-year contract, and Semien signed for $175 million over seven seasons. The following offseason, deGrom arrived with a $185 million, five-year deal that included a conditional sixth-year club option worth at least $20 million for 2028 that has been triggered because of the time missed injured.

Both Seager and Semien had indicated that they hoped to get back to play this season, especially when the Rangers made a late push for a playoff spot with a 13-3 run that included a pair of six-game winning streaks. But the eight-game losing streak, their longest of the season, dropped them 5 1/2 games behind Houston for the American League's final playoff spot with five games left in the regular season.

When asked about the possibility of two-time World Series MVP Seager coming back this week, Bochy responded, “It's not worth the risk. He's not quite ready. Same with Marcus.”

Bochy said they possibly could have played had the Rangers made the postseason.

“Yeah, it was a chance,” he said. “Marcus is making a lot of improvement. Corey not quite as fast as we were hoping.”

Seager hit .271 with 21 home runs and 50 RBIs in 102 games this season. He also missed 16 games in May while on the injured list with a right hamstring strain.

Semien will finish at 127 games, his fewest in a full season since 85 with the Athletics in 2017, the only other time in his 13 big league seasons he went on the injured list. He had played at least 159 games every year since, except for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He hit .230 with 15 homers and 62 RBIs this year.

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