Why is Texas Rangers SS Corey Seager resting Monday against Detroit? Bruce Bochy explains

DETROIT — The Texas Rangers will advance into battle without their best hitter for the second time in a week.

All-Star shortstop Corey Seager didn’t play in Monday’s 1-0 win against the Detroit Tigers with what manager Bruce Bochy classified as a scheduled off day. Neither did designated hitter/left fielder Wyatt Langford, who’s played in 15 of the Rangers’ first 16 games. Travis Jankowski made his second career start at designated hitter, Josh Smith played shortstop and Ezequiel Duran started at third base.

Seager — who missed nearly all of spring training while rehabbing offseason sports hernia repair surgery — will have had three scheduled off days through the Rangers’ first 17 games. The 29-year-old sat for the third game of the season-opening series vs. the Chicago Cubs (before a three-game series in Tampa Bay) and for Tuesday’s series-opener vs. the Oakland Athletics after a four-game wraparound series against the Houston Astros.

The Rangers are in the midst of a 17 games in 17 days stretch, wrapped up a three-game series against the Astros on Sunday and will follow Monday night’s game vs. the Tigers with a day game on Tuesday.

“Talked to him a few days ago, run him through the Houston series and he’d have the first day off here,” Bochy said. “We have a day game tomorrow, so he was going to get one of them off.”

Seager’s planned days of rest are as important to this current stretch of games as they are to maintaining his long-term availability as the year progresses. He missed 43 regular season games last year with a hamstring strain and a thumb sprain, played admirably through his injury last postseason and started just three exhibition games this spring before opening day.

“It’s the fact that he missed spring training,” Bochy said. “As far as spring training stuff, conditioning, all of that, he’s a little behind. That’s when you’re at risk of injury when you push too much.”

The Rangers’ offense scuffled vs. Tigers started Reese Olson on Monday. Their lone run came on a Marcus Semien bases-loaded groundball that scored Heim.

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