Texas Rangers Slugger’s Turnaround Continues During Critical Road Trip

WASHINGTON — A three-game series at home is one thing. A nine-game sample for Marcus Semien is quite another.

Semien has been the hottest hitter in the Rangers’ lineup for more than a week now. In Washington against the Nationals, he was moved into the clean-up spot. It was the sixth different spot in the order for the 34-year-old this season.

Texas has moved him around, given him space to figure out his swing. It seems that he’s finally turned a corner.

“I just want to stay consistent,” Semien said on Saturday after the Rangers defeated the Nationals and he went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI a walk and a run scored. “Eventually, when we talk postgame, it’ll just be ‘good job’ instead of, ‘you were bad,’ you know?”

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Marcus Semien’s Path Back

Semien is well aware of the chatter. For the first two months, he was mired in his worst slump since he joined the Rangers in 2022, during which he batted under .200 until late May.

Players like to block it out, but manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged late in May that outside noise was creeping into the team.

The 34-year-old second baseman is an easy target. He signed a seven-year, $175 million deal before the 2022 season. The expectation is that he performs. But, like so many other Rangers this season, his offense was out sync.

Through his first 56 games, he slashed .173/.260/.224 with a .485 OPS.

The Rangers optioned first baseman Jake Burger to Triple-A Round Rock for a week to help him get his swing back. Texas sat Adolis Garcia for the entire Cardinals series so he could work on his swing and reset his plate approach.

At that point, Semien surged.

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Starting with the St. Louis series on May 30, Semien has played in nine games with a slash of .517/.588/.931 with a 1.519 OPS. For those nine games, his batting average, on-base percentage and OPS are the best in baseball.

Entering Tuesday’s series opener with the Minnesota Twins, his slash is now .217/.304/.316 with a .619 OPS, with six home runs and 27 RBIs.

It’s a start. By the end of 2022, after he climbed out of that slump, he slashed .248/.304.429 with a .733 OPS, 26 home runs and 83 RBI.

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Even in this small size, this is the Semien the Rangers have desperately needed for two months.

What has turned Semien around? He acknowledged the coaching staff and said the group has worked extremely hard to support the players. But he also noted that the onus is on the players to perform.

Bochy said the same. He wants players like Semien to lean into what they do best, especially in times like these.

“We don’t want guys to walk away from their strengths,” Bochy said. “He’s got a quick bat, and he does pull the ball a lot. That’s OK. It’s what has served him well. That’s why he’s had a tremendous career. But when you’re timing is off, it’s hard to do the things you normally do. He gets so much confidence up there when he’s seeing the ball well. He’s taking walks. We want him to be who he is.”

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