Marcus Semien addresses brutal slump to start Mets career

When the New York Mets traded Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers to bring in two-time Gold Glove Award winner and three-time All-Star Marcus Semien, they made it a point to focus more on the defensive side of the ball. Alas, what separated Semien from other elite fielders is that he can also produce on offense.

However, Semien’s start to his life with the Mets could not be going any worse. Through the first seven games of his Mets career, the 35-year-old second baseman is sporting an OPS of .424.

He has only tallied three base hits, with only one of them going for extra bases (a double). He may no longer be an undisputedly positive producer at the plate, but his performance thus far in 2026 is far worse than even the most pessimistic evaluator would believe he’d put up.

Semien did get a hit on Thursday night in the Mets’ 7-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, so he’s not losing all hope of turning it around this season.

“It’s taking some time so far, but definitely no panic in me,” Semien said, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Of course, it remains so early in the season; a sample size of 23 at-bats doesn’t render his track record of serviceable production at the plate meaningless.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza also believes that Semien is due to turn things around.

“I feel like [pitchers] are attacking him, they are getting ahead and then they are making him chase. But I feel good with him at the plate. It’s just [six games]. I am not worried about him,” Mendoza added.

The Mets’ 3-4 start to the season is less than ideal, especially with Semien slumping at the plate. They will get a chance to start turning things around tomorrow night when they take on the Giants in the second game of their four-game series in San Francisco.