Home News Corey Seager prepared to lead at Rangers camp

Corey Seager prepared to lead at Rangers camp

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SURPRISE, Ariz. — Corey Seager walked into the Rangers’ Spring Training clubhouse with a calm and easy smile, introducing himself to new teammates and catching up with old ones. 

There’s a certain type of peace about Seager as opposed to 2022, when he entered the first day in a new clubhouse after a long lockout, with a $325 million deal under his belt. 

“In the beginning, you show up on Day One, and it’s just a new clubhouse, and everybody’s eyeballs are on you right when you walk in,” Seager said. “It was never like an uncomfortability, just more of being the new guy.”

No longer the new guy, Seager doesn’t feel like all the eyeballs are on him as he enters his second season with the club. If anything, the shortstop is more than comfortable after a full offseason of being able to communicate with coaches and staff, especially as he got acquainted with new manager Bruce Bochy.

“I think it’s a world of difference,” Seager said. “You get to talk through things and figure out what to expect and what we’re gonna do, and how we’re gonna kind of push it instead of showing up and going, ‘Hey, we got to get ready for a season, how do we figure out what we’re going to do?’ We were trying to physically get ready, play games, everything. 

“Last year was so accelerated with new faces, with new everything, too. Spring was tough last year trying to fit everything in a short amount of time. … I think it was just a bad recipe for trying to be prepared with a new team and new people, and stuff like that. I don’t wanna say it got pushed to the side. It was just too fast.”

Seager said at Rangers Fan Fest last month that there would no longer be any excuses for not winning in 2023. Between the offensive additions of himself and Marcus Semien last offseason and the trio of starting pitchers — Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi — this offseason, Texas is in prime position for a breakout year in the American League West.

For Seager, part of that will come with him taking a step forward and being the player he knows how to be. 

In 2022, Seager logged a career-high 33 home runs, but career lows in batting average (.245), on-base percentage (.317) and slugging (.455). His .772 OPS was the second-lowest of his career. While a lot of those struggles came with Seager being shifted more than almost any other player in the Majors, a lot of it was also the frustration with the situation as the Rangers lost games at a higher level than he ever did with the Dodgers. 

Slate now wiped clean, Seager is determined to continue driving the ball to all fields and leading Texas in the field in 2023.

“I think now it’s already in the history book, right?” Seager said of his performance last season. “But in the beginning of the offseason, you definitely go through those things. I think now it’s just preparing for a season like always. There’s no real adjustments on that. You’re just trying to get ready for the year this spring.”

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