DALLAS — After five straight losing seasons, the Texas Rangers decided that they needed a change. The manager was let go mid-summer, the general manager was out after the longest tenure in team history, and along with those decisions, the team had spent the winter severely upgrading the lineup.
Marcus Semien was part of that formula. After years of seeing Rougned Odor slump at the plate and in the field, and experiencing one year of drastic rebuild, Texas decided that it was time to spend -- and spend they did.
There was no sticker shock at a price tag that reached $175 million over seven years to sign Semien, an All-Star, Gold Glover and Silver Slugger second baseman.
2022 Opening Day Second Baseman: Marcus Semien
2023 Projected Opening Day Second Baseman: Marcus Semien
Semien was a player whose progress you could see linearly. Starting as a 2011 draftee of the Chicago White Sox, Semien worked his way to prospect status before landing in Oakland.
From his time with the A’s and training under the tutelage of known infield coach extraordinaire Ron Washington, where he greatly improved his defense at shortstop, to signing a one-year pillow contract with Toronto ahead of the 2021 season, where he moved to second base and earned the above-mentioned accolades.
In 2022, after signing with the Rangers, Semien proved to be every bit the iron man that he had been the previous three seasons. Since 2019, Semien has played in each game with the exception of eight. In 2022, he had 724 plate appearances to lead the league.
However, the production in 2022 wasn’t exactly what Texas was expecting to get, especially early in the year, as Semien slashed lower than he had in 2019 and 2021 at .248/.304/.429, also totaling 10 fewer hits and half the number of home runs.
That said, Globe Life Field isn’t the hitting paradise that Globe Life Park was, and Semien also had an incredibly slow start to the season. His performance really started to swing upwards from mid-May onward and for the remainder of the year, the 31-year old was just what Texas needed at second base – a reliable glove, a better than reliable bat and a solid and feared presence in the lineup.
Was the slow start due to nerves? Was it the pressure of a massive contract? Was it the unfamiliarity of a new environment? We’ll never know, but now that Semien has a season with Texas under his belt, and since the Rangers have now added pitching to go with the bats, the expectations are going to be much higher than before for the veteran Bay Area native.
A steady dose of spring training at-bats seem to indicate that Semien is ready to go for the regular season. The hope is that the “normalcy” of this season’s spring camp will help contribute to a quicker start for Semien in his sophomore season. There’s no pandemic, no new clubhouse to navigate, no lockout to work through – there is just the normal routine of normal ball.
Semien’s last “normal” offseason? That one preceded his 2019 season – his breakout year when he finished third in the American League MVP voting.
For Semien, in his second season in Texas, that’s the kind of normal he and the team are looking for.
Do you think Marcus Semien has an All-Star-caliber season in him in 2023? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
