Rangers' Marcus Semien: Up-and-down season continues
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Semien went 0-for-3 in Thursday's 1-0 win over Houston.
Semien appeared to be coming out of a season-opening funk when he was dropped mid-April from leadoff to fifth in the order, but any initial success was fleeting. He posted a .271 average and .702 OPS over 14 games immediately after the change but recently is 4-for-33 (.121) with a .407 OPS across the last nine contests.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Getting better
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Semien went 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base in Thursday's 3-0 loss to the Athletics.
Like several Texas hitters Semien is off to a slow start, but he's coming around. Thursday's single extended his hit streak to six games, during which he's batting .400 with a .520 on-base percentage. Since being dropped from leadoff to the fifth spot in the batting order, Semien has a .787 OPS over 10 games compared to .401 in 21 games atop the order.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Logs three hits in win
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Semien went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's 15-2 win over the Athletics.
Semien, who hit safely for a fourth straight game, was one of three Texas batters to log three hits, as the team's struggling offense busted out Tuesday. Since dropping to the fifth spot in the batting order, Semien is 8-for-29 (.276) with a home run, seven RBI and three runs scored. That's a positive sign for the second baseman, who has a career-low .493 OPS through 29 games.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Dropped to fifth in order
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Semien was dropped from leadoff to fifth in the order for Tuesday's game against the Athletics, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run and four RBI in an 8-5 win.
Texas manager Bruce Bochy enacted lineup and order changes in hopes of shaking the team out of an offensive malaise. That appeared to work for Semien, who entered the night batting .141. Josh Smith took over at leadoff against a right-hander, though it's unclear if Bochy will continue this practice against lefties.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Getting Sunday off
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Semien is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
Semien will get his first day off this season after starting at second base and leading off in each of Texas' first 15 games. With Semien getting off to a 5-for-38 start to April, he stands to benefit from a chance to clear his head. Designated hitter Joc Pederson will assume leadoff duties, while Josh Smith fills in for Semien at second base.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Smacks leadoff homer
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Semien went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk Saturday against the Rays.
Semien had a slow start to the season with zero extra-base hits across his first 32 plate appearances entering Saturday's game. He changed that promptly by popping a leadoff homer against Taj Bradley. However, he also struck out twice and now has a 25 percent strikeout rate for the campaign, well above his 14.6 percent clip for the last two seasons.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Back in spring lineup
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Semien (illness) will start at second base and bat leadoff in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Giants.
Semien was scratched from the lineup ahead of Wednesday's game against the Reds after falling victim to a stomach bug, but he appears to have made enough strides in his recovery overnight to return to action. He's gotten off to a slow start at the dish during Cactus League play, recording six hits in 32 at-bats.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Scratched due to stomach virus
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Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that Semien was scratched from Wednesday's Cactus League lineup versus the Reds due to "a little stomach virus," Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
The veteran second baseman should be ready to play in a day or two. Semien has gone 6-for-32 with a couple home runs so far this spring.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Could get more off days
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Texas manager Bruce Bochy is considering giving Semien more days off in 2025, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.
Semien, who is entering his age-34 season, has missed just four regular-season games in three years with the Rangers. Bochy said Wednesday he's discussed the idea of more off time with Semien and also broached moving him around the batting order; the second baseman has been Texas' primary leadoff hitter since signing with the club in 2022. Semien's .699 OPS last season was lower than his career mark (.763), but there wasn't much difference in his underlying metrics, suggesting a .250 BABIP as the most likely reason for his subpar 2024 season.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Homers again
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Semien went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Mariners.
Semien's home run gave the Rangers a brief lead in the fifth inning. It was his 22nd of the season and fourth in the last six games. While Semien has been fantasy friendly in terms of home runs and runs scored (93), it's been a down season overall for the second baseman. Throwing out the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the 33-year-old Semien's .704 OPS this season is the lowest its been since 2014.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Reaches 20 homers
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Semien went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 14-4 loss to the Diamondbacks.
Semien put the Rangers on the board in the third inning with a solo home run, his second long ball in the last three games and 20th of the season. He's hit safely in six of the last seven contests, going 9-for-30 (.300) and scored seven runs. Semien is 10 runs shy of posting a fourth consecutive season with at least 100 runs scored.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Homer, steal in win
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Semien went 2-for-5 with a solo home run, an additional RBI and a stolen base in Sunday's 7-4 win over the Angels.
Semien ended a 19-game homer drought when he led off the bottom of the first inning with a long ball. In that span, he batted a poor .205 (16-for-78) with three doubles, five RBI, 10 runs scored and two steals. He's started to turn things around with at least one hit in five straight games. The second baseman now has a .238/.308/.387 slash line, 19 homers, 67 RBI, 88 runs scored and six steals over 141 contests this season. He hasn't missed the 20-homer mark in a full-length campaign since 2018, and he has three weeks left to reach that milestone in 2024.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Receiving Wednesday off
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Semien is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees.
It's a rare day on the bench for Semien, who started Texas' previous 52 games and is sitting for just the third time all season. It's a good time for a day off, though, as the second baseman is in the midst of a 2-for-30 slump over the past seven games. Ezequiel Duran is manning the keystone while Josh Smith receives a look atop the lineup.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Runs hit streak to eight games
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Semien went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in Monday's 4-3 win over the Pirates.
Semien extended a hit streak to eight games with a third-inning single, and he eventually came around to score on Corey Seager's three-run home run. During the hit streak, Semien is 12-for-38 (.316) with four doubles, a home run, four RBI and six runs scored.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Three hits in extra-inning win
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Semien went 3-for-5 with a double, one RBI and one run scored in Sunday's 6-5 extra-inning win over the Twins.
Semien has gone 10-for-34 (.294) during a seven-game hitting streak since he returned to the leadoff spot. This was his second multi-hit effort in that span, and he's added four RBI and five runs scored. The second baseman has had a bit of a challenging year, posting a .245/.314/.406 slash line with 18 home runs, 61 RBI, 78 runs scored and three stolen bases over 123 contests, but he's never looked at risk of losing his starting job.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Moved back to leadoff
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Semien batted leadoff and went 1-for-4 in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Minnesota.
Semien, who had been batting third in the order against all pitchers, was at leadoff for the sixth consecutive game Saturday, all against right-handers. He's hit safely in all six, going 7-for-29 with a home run, two doubles, three RBI and four runs scored.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Bats third against lefty
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Semien batted third and went 0-for-2 with two walks in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Houston.
Semien was shifted from leadoff to third in the order July 29 and has stayed there since, though Tuesday marked the first time the Rangers faced a left-hander in that span. It looks like the lineup tweak will stick against pitchers of both handedness. The second baseman is 6-for-29 with four walks, two doubles, one home run, three RBI and two runs scored over eight games as the No. 3 batter.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Homers in loss
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Semien went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's 11-6 loss to the Red Sox.
Semien swatted a two-run home run in the sixth inning, his 16th homer of the season. He's hit safely in 11 of the last 12 contests, going 14-for-49 (.286) with two doubles, one triple, three homers, five RBI and 10 runs scored over that span.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Logs two hits, RBI in loss
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Semien went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Wednesday's 10-1 loss to St. Louis.
Semien drove in the Rangers' lone run with a sixth-inning single. He finished off his best month of the season, batting .287/.374/.479 over 24 games during July. After serving as the team's leadoff hitter all season, Semien batted third in the order for the third consecutive game Wednesday -- all coming against right-handers. It's unclear if he'll remain the club's leadoff bat against lefties. Texas kicks off a homestand Friday against the Red Sox, who have three right-handers scheduled.
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Rangers' Marcus Semien: Moves to third in order
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Semien batted third and went 1-for-5 with a run scored in Monday's 6-3 win over the Cardinals.
Texas manager Bruce Bochy tweaked the batting order, having Semien hit third for the first time this season. Josh Smith, who had been batting third, took over as the leadoff hitter. Bochy told Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that the change was part of integrating Josh Jung into the lineup. "We're just tweaking it a little bit here," the manager said. "With Jung coming back, you're gonna see a little different lineup. So we wanted to take a look at it here in this series and maybe farther." It's unclear if the switch was for only right-handers or all pitchers. Jung, who was activated off the 60-day injured list Monday, did not play in that night's game, so more changes could be coming once Jung returns to the field.
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