Rangers News: Corey Seager update, the return of Alejandro Osuna, strange outfield alignments

The Texas Rangers couldn't overcome their Fenway Park curse, having dropped two out of three over the weekend series, only redeeming themselves briefly as Scotland's Tartan Army invaded the historic ballpark in a rare MLB World Cup crossover, saving the Rangers from the sweep. With that, Texas saw its series-winning streak snapped at four, and failed to rise above .500, falling back below the breakeven mark.

With that, quite a few news tidbits came out, and we're here to help you catch up on anything that you might have missed.

Corey Seager misses the entire Rangers-Red Sox series with a mild concussion

It only took five games since his activation from the IL for star shortstop Corey Seager's health status to come into question. During the June 11 series finale against the Kansas City Royals, Seager was caught not hustling while rounding the bases on a Brandon Nimmo double, resulting in an avoidable collision with Royals catcher Carter Jensen.

When he missed the June 12 opener against the Red Sox, we were told his jaw and ribs were still a little sore. Then he missed the game on Saturday. On Sunday, it came out that he has been dealing with mild concussion symptoms since the crash.

There's no word yet on his status for tonight's series opener against the Minnesota Twins. Fans are certainly frustrated, but it's important to remember to direct frustration to the right spot. It's absolutely fair to criticize Seager for his lack of urgency on the bases that created this situation. It's uncalled for to expect him to play through the concussion, however.

This is a situation worth monitoring closely, and we'll keep you updated as soon as we learn more.

Alejandro Osuna returns to the Rangers in a manner that almost feels forced following his controversial demotion

A decent-sized subset of the fan base was upset to learn that the club's on-base percentage leader, Alejandro Osuna, had been optioned to Round Rock upon the activation of Seager and Wyatt Langford on June 5.

When Evan Carter was placed on the 10-Day IL on June 13 after hurting his oblique on a diving catch the night before, it was a surprise when utility man Cody Freeman got the call over the natural outfielder in Osuna.

Osuna had been getting first base reps down in Triple-A, sort of. He actually only appeared at one game at first during the time he was there. While there was some thought that Freeman got the call so that Osuna could continue his work at the cold corner, others questioned the organization's commitment to the 23-year-old.

It's all a moot point, for now at least. After being hit by a pitch on Saturday, Michael Helman hit the IL with multiple fractures in his hand, paving the way for Osuna to come back up.

He started in center field and went one-for-four on Sunday. The real test of his staying power will be what happens when Josh Smith comes back from the IL, which should be very soon.

Evan Carter's injury has led to some strange outfield alignments for the Rangers

Carter's injury forced some shifting in the Rangers' outfield on Friday night. Interestingly, Skip Schumaker decided to send Nicky Lopez out to left field and shift Langford to center after Carter left the game, despite the veteran infielder entering the contest with only 18 innings of outfield experience.

It was an odd choice given the unique challenge left field in Fenway Park poses, and it was strange that Schumaker felt more comfortable throwing Lopez to the wolves over the more-experienced Ezequiel Duran, who was covering shortstop in place of Seager. Even more curious was the decision to put Lopez at short the following day and Duran in right with Brandon Nimmo getting most of the day off.

The June 13 outfield alignment to begin the game was Langford in left, Helman in center, and Duran in right. The June 14 setup had Langford getting half a day off at DH, with left field manned by Freeman, center by Osuna, and right by Nimmo.

It would seem the easiest move would be to play Langford in center nearly full-time while Carter recovers, and rotate left field based on matchups, but it's unclear if the skipper views things the same way. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on a day-to-day basis, especially if Carter misses a decent amount of time.

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