Simplified approach leads to big results for Rangers' Marcus Semien
It wasn't the ideal playoffs for Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien, but as the old saying goes, it's not how you start but how you finish.
Going into Game 4 of the World Series, Semien was 13-of-66 (.196) in the postseason, with no home runs and just three RBI.
In the final two games of the World Series, Semien went 4-for-10 with two home runs and seven RBI.
Something clicked for Semien, who had just three extra-base hits going into Games 4 and 5.
"I think I was trying to do too much in the postseason," Semien told Alex Rodriguez during a postgame interview Wednesday after the Rangers won the Series in five games. "Postseason baseball is different. Game planning is going to be different."
Despite being among the better power-hitting second basemen in the majors, he knew he had to return to the basics.
"For me, if I'm trying to do too much and they execute, it's not going to work. So, I have to simplify, see the ball first. Use the whole field."
Simplify things he did, as in the eighth inning, when he slapped a single the other way before ripping a two-run HR 406 feet to left-center in the ninth.
The home run ended up being the backbreaker, putting the champion Rangers up, 5-0.
Semien has been a workhorse for the Rangers this season, playing in all 179 games they played, and for most of his career. Dating to 2021, while with the Toronto Blue Jays, Semien has missed just one game.
It's been a long road for the 33-year-old veteran of over 1,300 regular-season games, but it was all well worth the journey.
"It's just emotional," he told Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal after the game. "Everything I've ever worked for was for this moment."
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