{"id":35182,"date":"2025-05-18T01:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T01:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/35182\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T01:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T01:40:16","slug":"rangers-marcus-semien-is-painfully-aware-of-his-struggles-how-will-he-fix-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/35182\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers\u2019 Marcus Semien is painfully aware of his struggles. How will he fix them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON \u2014 With all due respect, Marcus Semien<\/a> would prefer not to have this conversation. He\u2019d prefer to be playing dominoes with his regular partners in the clubhouse. Or diligently going through his extensive daily fielding drills. Or maybe lunch. Or getting to the batting cage to work on more swings.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d prefer just about anything that would give him a break from this very conversation that rattles around in the head of just about every player at some point in their mid-30s: Is this merely a slump or a decline? <\/p>\n

He may be deep into that talk in his head, but certainly not outwardly.<\/p>\n

What he will acknowledge is the obvious: Things aren\u2019t going well. And it hurts.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m not getting on base,\u201d Semien said Saturday afternoon, hands on waist, the stance he takes when he\u2019d rather be anywhere else. \u201cI\u2019m not scoring runs. I\u2019m not doing anything in most offensive categories. It hasn\u2019t been fun. It hasn\u2019t been fun on the mental side. I\u2019m glad we\u2019ve been playing well despite it. I\u2019m trying to focus on the good things and the good things to come.\u201d <\/p>\n

The belief from Semien \u2014 and the Rangers<\/a> \u2014 is that despite a troubling set of numbers that extend beyond this year, yes, there is more good to come for him. <\/p>\n

But first, about the numbers. Semien, who turns 35 in September, began Saturday hitting .173, 144th of 145 MLB players with at least 150 plate appearances this season. His .491 OPS is also second to last. Trust us, Semien is painfully aware of the numbers. He can cite the walk totals of childhood hero Barry Bonds. He knows what he\u2019s hitting and OPS-ing when it\u2019s up in lights as he comes to the plate. Semien has had slow starts before (yes, into May) and recovered. <\/p>\n

Here is where it gets tricky, though. This extends well past the start of this season. Consider this: Over 365 days before Saturday, Semien was slashing .208\/.291\/.327\/.618. The slash line was 124th of 129 qualifiers. Semien, always a workhorse, had at least 100 more PAs than any of the bottom nine. It\u2019s a significant sample size. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s led manager Bruce Bochy<\/a> to move Semien out of the leadoff spot to the No. 5 spot. He has no desire to move him lower at the moment. He believes Semien is still a contributor, and managing people also means believing in them. The Rangers had won six of seven entering Saturday. They had been playing well. It gives him the luxury to allow Semien to keep working through things. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know how important he is to this club,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cWe need Marcus. I\u2019m not going to show any doubt to the guy who has had the kind of steady career he\u2019s had. He\u2019s in great shape. He\u2019s moving well. He\u2019s a contributor, and we need him.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bochy would like to give Semien a few more days off this season. That was the plan entering the year. But, as usual, Semien has stayed healthy; others haven\u2019t. And more than a few extra days of rest, Bochy would like to run the closest thing he can to a regular lineup out there. <\/p>\n

Bochy also believes the addition of Bret Boone<\/a> may ultimately be of more help to Semien than any other hitter in the lineup. Boone, like Semien, was a power-hitting second baseman. Boone, like Semien, dealt with a mid-30s drop. Unlike Semien, though, Boone has the wisdom of having already dealt with it. Actually, there is no shortage around Globe Life Field of former elite middle infielders who faced similar challenges in their mid-30s. Just this week, both of the All-Star special assistants to Chris Young, Michael Young and Ian Kinsler, happened to drop by the ballpark. <\/p>\n

Boone knows all the potential pitfalls for a player besides just advancing age. He wishes he\u2019d been more self-aware when he got to his mid-30s. Hitters sometimes have to change as their body does to prolong success. He knows the mental weight of seeing a woeful set of numbers night in and night out. He knows that age and lack of success can threaten to drown a hitter in self-doubt. Over the course of his first two weeks on the job, he said he\u2019s seen no signs of those issues with Semien. Just prepare yourself. It\u2019s a Boone quote. It\u2019s going to be long. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all different, but around age 35, that\u2019s a good test for the masses,\u201d said Boone, who saw a precipitous drop in performance in his own career at age 35 and lasted one more year. \u201cBut I\u2019m looking at Marcus and I still see that fast twitch. I don\u2019t see that age is beating him. I see a more fundamental battle. Guys go through that even when their body is perfect. <\/p>\n

\u201dIt\u2019s just that he\u2019s a little in-between on things. He\u2019s too far out in front on the breaking ball, so now, you are fouling off fastballs because you are a little late. He\u2019s not getting that load when the ball is in the hitting zone. You end up chasing more because you\u2019re not seeing it. You are just stuck in the middle. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve watched a lot and we talk a lot and he\u2019s close. His work is really good. I\u2019m not just talking about work ethic. I\u2019m seeing the barrel and the path to the ball. But you look up and you are hitting .175 and, after a while, it gets old and you want to change it. No, I want him to stay with it. Hang with me. We\u2019ve to trust it. This is not the time to abandon it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The issue has shown up most on fastballs, particularly those at the belt or above and from the middle in. Semien loves the pitch. Loves to drive it. Right now, he\u2019s not. In his first three years with the Rangers, he hit .273 with a .547 slugging percentage on those pitches. This year: It\u2019s .189 and .351. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be able to drive a fastball in this league,\u201d Semien said. <\/p>\n

Yes. But his struggle with the pitch this year has given pitchers an easy plan of attack. They\u2019ve been more confident to go inside when needed, but are more than happy to let Semien try to pull stuff off the plate. That\u2019s what happened when Semien batted with the bases loaded and two outs in the third Saturday. Ronel Blanco, who struck him out in his first at-bat on breaking balls away, threw a first-pitch slider off the plate. Semien reached out and rolled it over for an inning-ending ground out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in between, you\u2019re not hitting the fastball, you\u2019re not hitting the breaking ball, and the pitcher is out there going: \u2018You can\u2019t hit any of it,\u2019\u201d Boone said, presciently, before the game. \u201cIt becomes more unpredictable for you and more frustrating because they are getting me out with everything.\u201d <\/p>\n

This is the battle Marcus Semien wages in his head and at the plate at the moment. No wonder he\u2019d rather not talk about it.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>Texas Rangers scratch Evan Carter from lineup ahead of Saturday game vs. Astros <\/a><\/p>\n

Carter, who has been struggling lately, was scratched with tightness in the right quadriceps muscle.<\/p>\n

\"Retired<\/a>Letters to the Editor \u2014 Three Cheers for Gregg Popovich, Evan Grant, citizens academies <\/a><\/p>\n

Readers praise NBA retired head coach Gregg Popovich; appreciate a recent Evan Grant column; and recommend city citizens academies.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>The Rangers turned to their hot hand in the bullpen vs. Houston and got burnt for it <\/a><\/p>\n

In Texas\u2019 6-3 loss to the Astros Friday, they may have exhausted their continual reliance on the bullpen.<\/p>\n

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON \u2014 With all due respect, Marcus Semien would prefer not to have this conversation. He\u2019d prefer to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2393],"tags":[8289,4805,5,3321,386,4,149,185,1567,69,3240],"class_list":{"0":"post-35182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas-rangers","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-bruce-bochy","12":"tag-marcus-semien","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-rangers","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-texas-rangers","18":"tag-texasrangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114526291776812908","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}