Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager had an appendectomy Thursday after experiencing abdominal pain during a game the previous night
The surgery was done in Texas after the team had traveled to California for the start of a series against the Athletics on Friday night. Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations, said it was too early to know how much time the two-time World Series MVP will miss.
“Corey did not want to rule out the season. In fact, he’s been researching athletes who’ve come back from this quickly,” Young said. “The most important thing is to make sure that Corey’s health is right.”
Young said the timetable could be two or three weeks, but that it was equally possible that Seager could miss the rest of the season, the fourth of his $325 million, 10-year contract.
The team said Thursday night that the surgery, performed by Dr. Garish Alexander in Mansfield, Texas, went as expected. Seager will continue to be evaluated over the next several days.
It is the latest injury setback for the Rangers, who with 27 games left are 4 1/2 games back of Seattle for the American League’s last wild-card spot. The Mariners and Kansas City, which was between the AL West rivals in those standings, both hold tiebreakers over Texas.
Second baseman Marcus Semien, in the fourth season of a $175 million, seven-year contract, was placed on the injured list for only the second time in his career Saturday because of a broken bone and sprained ligament after fouling a ball off the top of his left foot. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, 11-3 with a career-best 1.73 ERA but short of the innings needed to qualify as the MLB leader, went on the IL this week because of a rotator cuff strain.
Texas on Friday placed Seager on the 10-day IL and called up veteran utility player Dylan Moore, who had just been signed to a minor league contract after being released by Seattle. Center fielder Evan Carter (broken right wrist) was transferred Friday to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster.
“Obviously Corey, he’s extremely impactful for our team, and at this point in the season, with everything we’ve experienced thus far, that’s a tough blow,” Young said. “We’ve obviously had a lot of tough blows the last couple of weeks here. ... The team is still in a playoff race and our goal is to continue to put our best foot forward and continue to fight and see where it goes.”
It was initially thought that Seager came out of their 20-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night because of the lopsided score. The Rangers were up 11-1, and he had hit his 21st homer and scored three times before manager Bruce Bochy replaced Seager in the field in the top of the fifth inning.
“So did I. We kind of learned about it simultaneously,” Young said. “Boch was taking him out anyway but it was the timing kind of lined up.”
Young said Seager had experienced some pain before the game, but nothing that concerned the team or the shortstop. But that pain increased while playing, and he was diagnosed with appendicitis when he was evaluated after coming out of the game.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Texas Rangers' Corey Seager rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Los Angeles Angels' Jo Adell (7) steals second base against Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager follows through on a solo home run swing in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Ricky Brabec deliberately gave up his motorbike lead over Luciano Benavides in the Dakar Rally while Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to cruise through another day closer to his sixth car title on Thursday.
Al-Attiyah started 346-kilometer stage 11 between Bisha north to Al Henakiyah with a 12-minute overall lead and let it drop to less than nine minutes over new second-placed driver Nani Roma in a Ford.
Al-Attiyah was content to let Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb catch up and pass him to have a teammate nearby for any help and to minimize errors on the mazy, dirt track. Al-Attiyah was 17th, nearly 13 minutes behind stage winner Mattias Ekström, and said he needed to execute the same plan on Friday's last effective racing stage before the end on Saturday.
“If we lose two, three, four minutes no problem,” Al-Attiyah said. “We just need to finish this Dakar in first place.”
Honda cooked up a strategy in the Saudi desert for Adrien van Beveren to open the way and let Brabec catch up after the 190-kilometer pit stop and pick up time bonuses.
Brabec boosted his overall lead from 56 seconds to nearly four minutes just 25 kilometers from the finish. He was also within a minute of the stage lead but he slowed down so KTM rival Benavides was the new overall leader, but only by 23 seconds.
Brabec got his his wish to start Friday's stage 12 six minutes behind Benavides, so he can eye him. They head west to the rally starting point of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on 311 kilometers of gravel, some river beds with a finish in the dunes.
“A little bit of strategy today and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” Brabec said. "I feel like its going to be a good day. We’re going back into the rocks so it will be a little bit better for us.”
Brabec is counting on his experience of winning the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 to trump Benavides, who has a best placing of fourth last year.
“I've been in this situation before,” Brabec said. “For the whole two weeks I've been just trying to stay relax, stay comfortable and just be confident, so two days more. I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow that I've been doing every day; ride dirt bikes and have fun.”
Van Beveren helped Brabec with navigation while fighting with another teammate, Skyler Howes, the entire day for the stage win.
Howes prevailed by 21 seconds for his first career major stage in his eighth Dakar. He was third in 2023 and sixth last year. He's running fifth, 34 minutes off the pace.
Benavides was fourth in the stage and believed the race will be decided on the final 105-kilometer sprint on Saturday.
“I played no strategy like Ricky. I don't care,” Benavides said. “I'm doing what I can to control what I can control.”
Ekström won his third car stage of this Dakar, a special so fast that 12 other drivers were within 10 minutes.
Ford achieved another 1-2-3 stage. Romain Dumas, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was a career-best second just over a minute back and Carlos Sainz was third.
Only Toyota's Henk Lategan beat Ekström to a checkpoint but Lategan's podium hopes were wrecked after 140 kilometers when a bearing broke on his rear left wheel. Lategan was second last year and second overall overnight but he plunged out of the top 15, at least.
Loeb moved up to third overall, 10 minutes behind Roma and three minutes ahead of Ekström.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Rider Daniel Sanders competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Rider Skyler Howes competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Henk Lategan, left, and co-driver Brett Cummings repair their car during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Driver Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
