Marcus Semien Suffers Injury Against Kanas City Royals

Texas Rangers Shortstop Marcus Semien left today’s game against the Kansas City Royals with a left foot contusion, according to MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry. The shortstop fouled a ball off his foot during a plate appearance in the first inning. Semien woke up on August 16 with a swollen wrist that required X-rays, marking a stretch of bad injury luck over the last few days. How long will he be out?

Marcus Semien Return Timeline Unknown 

From everything being reported, it sounds like this isn’t an injury that will keep Semien out long. He has had back-to-back underwhelming seasons with Texas and is far from the player he once was. He has posted back-to-back seasons with an OPS below .700, after having two seasons with a number over .730. 

He’s 34 years old, so the drop in production is expected, but it still hinders the Texas Rangers when he’s playing at this below-average clip. His best season with Texas was in 2023 when he smacked 29 home runs and drove in 100 runs. He had an .826 OPS that season and led the Rangers to a World Series. Rangers fans will probably be fine with Semien’s lackluster play for the last few years of his deal because of the World Series victory. 

Where Are the Texas Rangers Going? 

The Rangers certainly have been disappointing since winning the World Series in 2023. They finished 78-84 in 2024, and so far, they’re almost on the same pace. They’re currently three games under .500 and are the definition of average this season. The worst place in sports to be is in the middle, but what can they do? Do they blow things up and consider trading stars, or do they get aggressive in trades or free agency? 

They’ve just been average to slightly below average since 2023. It’ll be interesting to see if they can go on a run down the stretch.