Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager is having one of the best seasons of his nine-year MLB career in 2023. Teammates believe his driving force is the desire of claiming a championship in a non-abbreviated season.
An unnamed Rangers teammate told Fox Sports:
"He wants to win a 'real' World Series."
Before signing a 10-year, $325 million contract with the Texas Rangers prior to the 2022 season, Corey Seager was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers broke a 31-year steak of not winning the World Series by claiming the MLB title in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.
Seager played a key role in helping bring Los Angeles the title championship, batting .307 with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs over 52 games of the abbreviated season. He was placed ninth in the National League Most Valuable Player voting.
In 49 games with the Texas Rangers so far this season, Corey Seager is hitting a career-best .345 with 10 homers and 48 RBIs.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said he does not know much about what makes Seager tick, but he won't mess with success. Bochy told Fox Sports:
"I don’t know his whole routine, to be honest. But they all have their own way of preparing and this is the way it works for him. And as you can see, he’s had tremendous success."
Corey Seager missed nearly a month of the season with a hamstring injury, but his 1.020 OPS is second in the majors behind Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani.
Even opponents admire Seager's game. New York Yankees outfielder Willie Calhoun, a former minor-league teammate of Seager's with the Dodgers, told Fox Sports there's something special about the Texas Rangers' shortstop:
"He’s unique. That dude is f*****g different. Easily one of the best hitters I’ve ever played with. I asked him once, do you sit on pitches? And he said no, he just expects fastball and adjusts. He’s out here hitting 440-foot homers on first-pitch curveballs, and I’m like, OK, bro."
Corey Seager leading the division-leading Texas Rangers
Seager's offensive pop is helping Rangers in the team's quest to break the Houston Astros' stranglehold on the AL West division.
Texas currently holds a six-game lead on the Astros and Angels, leading the division with a 49-31 record as the season nears the halfway point.