Rangers cap championship season with 6 All-MLB selections
ARLINGTON -- The honors keep coming in for the World Series champion Texas Rangers as the All-MLB Teams presented by MGM Rewards were announced on Saturday night. Six Rangers received All-MLB honors: Corey Seager and Marcus Semien on the First Team and Jonah Heim, Adolis García, Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery on the Second Team.
All-MLB honors recognize the best players at each position across the Majors. The teams were selected by a combination of fan voting and a panel of media members, broadcasters, former players and other officials throughout the game.
Seager and Semien -- who finished second and third in AL MVP voting -- both started for the American League in the 2023 All-Star Game and led the Rangers to the postseason for the first time since 2016. Both won Silver Slugger Awards at their respective positions while also being named finalists for Gold Glove Awards.
Seager had one of the best offensive seasons of his career despite playing just 119 games due to two stints on the injured list. He finished second in the AL in batting average (.327), slugging percentage (.623) and OPS (1.013), while also racking up 33 home runs and 96 RBIs.
Semien led the AL in plate appearances (753), at-bats (670), runs (122) and hits (185) while playing all 162 regular-season games.
Heim was the All-Star starter at catcher while also winning the Gold Glove Award at the position. Heim threw out a career-high 24 of 84 (29%) attempted basestealers, the highest caught-stealing percentage among AL catchers. Per Statcast, his 10 catcher framing runs ranked third in MLB. Seen as a defense-first catcher, Heim stepped up his offense in 2023. In his first year as the primary catcher for the Rangers, he hit .258 with a .755 OPS in 131 games.
Garc¨ªa logged his second career All-Star appearance in 2023, as he hit .245/.328/.508 with 39 home runs. He also won his first career Gold Glove Award with a team-best 11 outfield assists this season, good for third in the AL. He ranked third among qualified MLB right fielders in defensive runs saved (7).
Eovaldi became the de facto ace of the Rangers¡¯ staff after Jacob deGrom went down for the season with UCL surgery. He posted a 3.63 ERA, though pitched just 144 innings after missing August with a right forearm strain.
Montgomery, whom the Rangers acquired in a Trade Deadline deal with the Cardinals, became a steadying force in the rotation down the stretch. He posted a 2.79 ERA in 67 2/3 innings for the Rangers, good for a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts on the season.