After missing his 33rd game of the season, Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager returned to the lineup for the team’s 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Thursday night.

Seager drew a pair of walks and came across to score a run while batting third and starting at shortstop.

However, despite the successful return, Seager is not in the lineup for game two of the series on Friday night as Texas squares off against Patrick Corbin and the Jays.

It’s all part of a plan the Rangers have implemented to get Seager fully acclimated to playing every day.

The Rangers will give Seager the day off on Friday. Still, on Saturday and Sunday, he will play in back-to-back games for the first time since coming off the Injured List before taking off Monday night’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians in Ohio.

A pattern of “two on, one off” will remain in place for Seager until the team’s next off day on July 3 back home in Arlington.

As for Friday night, Ezequiel Duran will get the start at shortstop in place of Seager after he played third base on Thursday to give Josh Jung the day off.

Duran played shortstop for much of the time that Seager was on the IL and has had one of the better offensive seasons by a Ranger in 2026.

Through 72 games this season, Duran is hitting .261 with a .318 on-base percentage, a 4.15 slugging percentage, a .733 OPS, six home runs, and 40 RBI.

Having Seager back in the lineup certainly won’t hinder any playing time for Duran, but rather give him the chance to play at different spots around the field to give regulars some time off.

Seager certainly hasn’t had a better offensive season than Duran has in the time he’s been out on the field this season, but the Rangers still know they’re a better team when their star shortstop is on the field.

“You’ve seen what a healthy Corey Seager does to our lineup,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “The reality is, Corey Seager is the best bat in our lineup that we’ve missed for a long period of time, and I’m really excited to see what it looks like when he and Wyatt are back in there together.”

If Thursday night was any sort of glimpse at what Seager and Langford can do in the lineup together, the Rangers' offense may have a fun rest of the season ahead of them.

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