Corey Seager scratched from Texas Rangers lineup for Thursday’s game vs. LA Dodgers

The value of Corey Seager: It’s entirely possible the Texas Rangers will get only one game from Seager over a 10-day stretch of dealing with a balky hamstring and they won the game on his three-run homer.

It’s a trade-off the Rangers are willing to take.

Seager was scratched from Thursday’s lineup with continued soreness in his left hamstring. It’s the same issue that forced him to miss most of the last week before filling the designated-hitter role on Wednesday. His three-run homer accounted for all of the Rangers’ runs in a 3-2 win.

“When you have an impact bat like that, it’s worth waiting on him to see,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We got a DH game from him and a big win.”

Seager had originally been in the lineup Thursday as the DH for the second straight day. When he started to get loose about three hours before game time, he complained of some enduring stiffness. Josh Smith moved from the cleanup spot to No. 2 to replace him. The Rangers inserted Travis Jankowski as the DH and batted him seventh.

Bochy said he is optimistic Seager will return to the lineup on Friday in Seattle when the Rangers open a three-game series against the AL West-leading Mariners. It is, however, supposed to be cool and potentially wet in Seattle all weekend, not ideal conditions for somebody dealing with a hamstring issue. Bochy said it’s possible Seager could spend the weekend at DH.

“We’re being cautious,” Bochy said. “It’s not easy to take him out. But we had to make a call and we’re going to do the right thing. If he has to DH, he will DH.”

If the Rangers had placed Seager on the 10-day IL the day after he left a game against Detroit, he’d be eligible for reinstatement by Sunday’s road trip finale. But even an occasional Seager is probably a better option than whatever the Rangers could do if they put him on the IL. Davis Wendzel, who replaced outfielder Derek Hill on the 26-man roster after Seager’s injury last week, is just 3-for-31 (.097) in the majors. The other option would be Jonathan Ornelas, who is 1-for-8 over brief stints with the Rangers the past two seasons. The point: There aren’t any options on the 40-man roster.

Despite the injury, Seager has reached base in each of the last 29 games he’s played. It’s the longest such streak of his career. In that streak, he’s slashing .327/.421/.692/1.112 with 12 homers.

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