The Texas Rangers placed shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list with lower back inflammation on Monday, retroactive to Friday.
Utility man Michael Helman was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock in a corresponding move.
Seager was sent for an MRI exam on Sunday to help determine the cause of his back ailment after he hadn’t played since Wednesday against Arizona. He began experiencing back pain on Saturday morning.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker told reporters Sunday that Seager “was here (at the stadium) before me trying to get in the lineup.”
Seager, 32, is batting just .179 this season and is hitless in a career-worst 27 consecutive at-bats. He has seven home runs and 20 RBIs in 42 games.
Seager is in his fifth season with Texas and was named World Series MVP in 2023 when the Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. He was the runner-up for regular-season MVP honors behind Shohei Ohtani, then of the Los Angeles Angels.
Seager also was World Series MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. He is a five-time All-Star.
Helman, who turns 30 on Saturday, appeared in 38 games for Texas last year and nine for the Minnesota Twins in 2024. He has batted .239 in those games with five home runs and 20 RBIs.
