Even with injuries in 2023, 2024 and 2025, Texas Rangers slugger Corey Seager produced. That changed in 2026.
Seager spent three different stretches on the injured list, twice with lower back inflammation and once with concussion symptoms. Even when he returned, his bat didn't respond until late in the season. What it resulted in was a career worst season in terms of his slash line and certainly his worst numbers as a member of the Texas Rangers .
Seager slashed .227/.312/.424 with 20 home runs and 51 RBI. For perspective, his worst batting average in a season before 2026 was his first season in Texas when he batted .245. At least he hit a career-best 33 home runs that season. In 2026 he only hit 20 home runs and drove in 51 RBI.
So, what happened? Let's try to figure it out.
Corey Seager MLB Percentile Rankings 2026 | Statcast/Baseball Savant
Seager's MLB Percentiles graphic in Statcast has two sides to it. The top part is bright red, the bottom part is light blue. The xwOBA, his xSLG, his average exit velocity, his barrel rate and his hard-hit rate were all in the 86th percentile or better. When it came to actually making contact with the baseball, he did it.
xwBOA is especially interesting. That's expected weighted on-base average. Based on his hitting performance measured by Statcast, he should have gotten on base much more than he did.
Beyond that, a few numbers stand out. His bat speed was measured at 71.5 mph. That was in the 38th percentile in baseball. His chase rate was 28.8%, which was in the 57th percentile. His whiff rate was highly problematic. He whiffed 32.9% of the time, which was ranked in the sixth percentile.
Let's focus on those three data points in 2025, where he slashed .271/.373/.487 with 21 home runs. The bat speed is a negligible data point. It was 72.5 mph last season. The chase rate is concerning. While Seager has a reputation as an aggressive hitter, he chased at a rate of 23% last season, which was in the 82nd percentile. The whiff rate deserves scrutiny. He was only in the 27th percentile last season but it was 27.9%.
Seager has had more disciplined seasons the further you go back in his history. He's been able to marry aggressiveness with discipline to great success. That wasn't the case in 2026. It makes logical sense. A slightly slower swing speed with a higher chase rate leads to a higher whiff rate. Seager had to stop and start three times this season, leading to more inconsistency. Learning that he had a bone spur in his elbow after the season only provides further understanding that he was fighting through something at the plate.
In some ways, Seager produced analytic data to his career averages. But the changes in those three data points helped lead to a career-worst season. If there is any good news those data points are, based on the last 10 seasons, an aberration and not a trend - at least not yet.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/rangers/onsi as Examining the Two Sides of Corey Seager' Worst Season with Rangers .
