Royals’ fellow Wild Card contender rocked by two major injury blows in a week

It's no secret at this point that the Kansas City Royals are in a fight for the ages, as they attempt to surmount the odds and reach the postseason for the second consecutive season after an eight-year hiatus from 2016 to 2023.

Their focus should first and foremost be on the tasks ahead of them and controlling what they can control. That being said, in a tight race like this, the Royals will need to receive some breaks elsewhere if they are to overcome the current three game gap between them and the Seattle Mariners for the final Wild Card spot.

And while it may not be a team that's ahead of them, the AL Wild Card scene may've gotten a bit thinner this week, after the recent announcement out of Texas. Rangers' star shortstop Corey Seager was placed on the IL on Friday after being removed from Wednesday's contest against the Los Angeles Angles with abdominal pain that subsequently resulted in an appendectomy.

Royals' Wild Card competition weakens after Rangers' Corey Seager placed on IL

As mentioned earlier, the Rangers are not a team that Royals are not chasing, as entering Saturday's contest, they sat half a game behind them in the standings. However, after gaining a game on them with a win over the A's on Friday and a Royals loss to the Tigers, they're not a team Kansas City can forget about.

For Texas though, while they may have been able to handle their first full game without Seager on Friday, the 63-73 rebuilding Athletics aren't exactly the hardest test in the league.

And while an appendectomy is seemingly a routine operation, the Rangers have not given him a timetable to return.

Being placed on the 10-day IL on the Aug. 29, Seager will be first eligible to return to action on Sept. 8 at the earliest, meaning beyond their current three-game set against the Athletics, he's guaranteed to also be absent for their three-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and then a three-game weekend set against their in-state and division rivals in the AL West-leading Houston Astros. And that list could grow if he requires more recovery time.

While injuries happen, Seager is not the first major injury the Rangers have been forced to deal with the week. Veteran All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi was placed on the shelf on Wednesday with what appears to be a season-ending rotator cuff injury.

If you're doing the math at home, that means Texas now has to chase the Royals while missing a Cy-Young-caliber 1.73 ERA ace in the rotation and 136 wRC+ franchise cornerstone shortstop.

The Royals have been a prime example of not letting injuries define their season, as they've managed to overcome some major injury blows throughout the 2025 campaign themselves, however, amid a stretch run like this, they'll have to feel like they have the advantage over the now very-shorthanded Rangers squad at the moment - so long as they take care of their own business.