ARLINGTON, Texas – Even with a playoff field expanded to six teams, the Rangers will be officially eliminated even from wild card consideration by the end of the week. Not that this is breaking news. They’ve been out of it for a while.
Most days, it’s going to be hard to make anything of significance out of any lineup they put on the field. Most days. Not all. Tuesday belonged to the latter.
After a 25-hour whirlwind day in Miami – residue from the season-delaying lockout – the Rangers started a shortstop and it was neither Corey Seager nor Marcus Semien. Seager got a day off after hitting his 30th homer and reaching a five-year high in games played. For the first time all year, Semien didn’t slide over to replace him. Whatever lays ahead for the Rangers with a manager, it should be clear, Semien isn’t really interested in shuttling between positions based on Seager’s situation.
And, for a night, things worked out just fine. Mark Mathias filled in at the No. 2 spot in the order, hit two homers, including a game-ender in an 8-7 come-from-behind walk-off win over Oakland. Semien had three doubles. Josh Smith played a nice shortstop.
“We talked about it a while ago,” said Semien, who came up as a shortstop but moved to second last year in Toronto and won a Gold Glove. “I told [former manager Chris Woodward] that if I play shortstop, I want to be the best shortstop I can be and if I play there every day, I can be really good. And if I play second, I want to be the best second baseman I can be. And to do that, I have to play every day. Staying there helps me stay consistent. Honestly, I’m still learning the position.”
The Rangers instead started rookie Josh Smith at short. Interim manager Tony Beasley said the Rangers need to “see” Smith at short as they evaluate for 2023. One of Smith’s assets is his versatility. Beasley also allowed it may be the only opportunity for Smith to play short this season.
Handed the option for a day off after Tuesday’s doubleheader, Seager, now at 135 games, took it. The Rangers know better than to offer the same option to Semien. He has played every game in the last two 162-game seasons, played 159 twice before that and has missed only one game this season.
“He doesn’t want one and doesn’t want to talk about it, period,” Beasley said. “To him, this is important. He gets himself ready to play every day. He’s got a routine and he gets himself ready to go.”
Said Semien: “I think if you are ready to go, you should be ready to go. When I came up, I played behind a guy [Alexei Ramirez] who played every day. It’s my time to play and I want to be ready to play.”
To his waving off a day off: His performance as the season has worn on backs him up. He has surged in the last month. Between Woodward’s dismissal on August 15 and the start of Tuesday’s game, Semien slashed .283/.333/.513/.847.
The firing date is somewhat seminal, at least in this tale of two middle infielders. Woodward’s presence was believed to be at least a part of why Seager signed a 10-year, $325 million deal with the Rangers.
Since Woodward’s firing, Seager’s slash is dismal: .213/.283/.361/.644. His homer in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader was his first in September. By the end of Tuesday, Semien had a higher batting average (.248) for the season than Seager (.246), though Seager still led in OPS .773 to .734.
Of course, numbers can be deceiving, too. Seager has hit the ball hard in the last month, just regularly into the shift. He’s averaged 91.9 mph in exit velocity, still higher than Semien, who is at 90.1.
“I don’t see [Seager] being fatigued,” Beasley said. “He’s lost a lot of hits to the shift. We don’t see the bat looking like it’s heavy or slow right now. He’s posted up this year and he’s played a lot. If he needs a day, he’ll get it.”
On Tuesday he got it. But for the first time since they both signed with the Rangers, it didn’t mean Marcus Semien was impacted too.
