ARLINGTON, Texas -- Corey Seager was activated from the injured list Friday after the slumping five-time All-Star shortstop missed 19 games for the Texas Rangers because of lower back inflammation.
Seager went into the Rangers' series opener against Cleveland mired in a career-worst 0-for-27 slump that included 11 strikeouts. The two-time World Series MVP was hitless in his previous seven games, also a career long, since an RBI single on May 6 at Yankee Stadium after he hit a home run earlier in that game.
Texas also activated outfielder Wyatt Langford, who had missed 39 games since going on the injured list April 22 because of a right forearm strain.
Langford, playing left field, and Seager were batting 1-2 in the lineup against the Guardians.
"Excited to write down Wyatt Langford's and Corey Seager's name in the lineup. You envision that all offseason, and that got taken away," first-year Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said.
"I'm excited to see, really for the first time in some time, our group together. Still missing (second baseman) Josh Smith, but beyond that, we have not had our group together in a long time," said Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations.
"Look at the past week, 10 days, and there have been a lot of positives with the way we've played," Young said. "And now getting Corey and Wyatt back in this lineup, I think will be very big for us. I'm excited to see what that does for everybody."
Before a loss at St. Louis on Wednesday, the Rangers had a five-game winning streak that was their longest of the season.
Utility man Cody Freeman and outfielder Alejandro Osuna were optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to make room on the roster. Utility player Sam Haggerty was designated for assignment after he was activated from the bereavement/family medial emergency list.
Langford and Seager played in two rehab games together this week at Double-A Frisco. That was after Langford played two games with Round Rock.
"Definitely feel great. I feel like I'm in a really good spot," Langford said.
Seager, who wasn't in the clubhouse pregame when it was open to reporters, hadn't been in a big league game since May 13. At that point, the 32-year-old shortstop had started 42 of the Rangers' first 43 games. He said then that physically he felt "completely fine" after playing all of their 24 games in a 27-day span.
The Rangers had a day off after that and planned for Seager to get an extra break by sitting out the series opener at Houston. But he didn't play at all in that series after waking up one morning with back spasms.
When Seager went on the IL, he was hitting .179 with seven homers and 20 RBIs. His 50 strikeouts accounted for 27.5% of his 182 plate appearances. He was 6-for-61 (.098) with 23 K's over his last 16 games.
In his first rehab game Tuesday night, Seager went 1-for-2 with a single and fielded two groundballs while playing shortstop. He went 0-for-3 on Wednesday.
Langford hit .238 with one homer and four RBIs in his 20 games for Texas before going on the injured list. He was 2-for-10 with five walks in four rehab games.