Marcus Semien’s Bat Is Heating Up In The Texas Sun

One of the biggest moves this past offseason was the Texas Rangers signing infielder Marcus Semien to a seven-year $175 million deal.

The brother secured the bag for sure.

Is the pressure of performing at a high level after receiving such a big contract getting to Semien? This is the most money he’s ever seen in his career.

But ever since Semien joined the Rangers, he has not had the production at the plate like he’s had in the past. And it seems like a common thing for the other four shortstops who signed big deals this off season.

Javier Baez, Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, and Trevor Story have all got off to slow starts this season as well. Correa has picked things up as of late, but out of these five players, Semien has the lowest batting average.

Who would’ve thought these top players would sign for that much money and struggle at the start of the season, and they all play the same position? One of the reasons why the Rangers sought after Semien was because of his success at the plate.

This season he’s looked like a completely different player, but the Rangers aren’t giving up on the one-time all-star.

Back in April our fellow colleague Malik Wright talked about how we should not panic about Semien and his performance on the field.

That still holds true in May. 

In the Rangers recent series against the Los Angeles Angels, Semien showed signs of stepping in the right direction at the plate. The Rangers swept the Angels in the three-game series and Semien finished with four hits during the series.

He had a big performance on Wednesday night going 3-for-5 at the plate, his best outing so far this season.

It was his first three-hit performance of the season and it certainly won’t be his last. 

But this is the performance that he needed and things can turn around for him offensively.

 

Through 35 games played, Semien is hitting .173 with eight RBI. Not the numbers Rangers fans were looking to see from Semien. One thing about the MLB season is that it’s a long one and Semien has time to get out of this slump and show everyone why he won a Silver Slugger award last season.

Semien set a record last season for most home runs hit by a second baseman with 45 and this season he’s put up a goose egg in that category.

Should there be some panic going on down there in Texas? 

Listen, Semien will continue to get many opportunities to prove that he is an elite hitter throughout the season. The Rangers know how much value Semien can add to the team and it’s still early in the season too.

So let’s not be worried about our 2021 MLBbro of the Year. 

All eyes will be on Semien as the season continues and the question will be can he get out of this early season slump and return to that form he was at last season when he was one of the hottest hitters in the game.

Semien is going to continue to take it one game at a time and he’ll continue to make necessary adjustments at the plate in order to have more success this season.