Semien misses multiple games in single season for 1st time since '20

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers’ modern day iron man Marcus Semien hadn’t missed multiple games in a single season since 2020, when he played 53 of the 60 regular season games of the COVID-shortened season as a member of the A’s.

The second baseman will miss his second game of the 2024 season on Thursday, when he’ll watch the Rangers’ series finale against the Padres from the dugout at Globe Life Field.

In his 11-year big league career entering this season, Semien has played a full 162 games three times and played at least 155 games an additional four times. The last time he played fewer than 161 games in a full MLB season was in 2018 (159) with the A’s.

“He’s just getting a day,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “I think it's a good time to give him a day and give him a little break. This guy, you look at what he did last year, he broke the record number of at-bats and what he did for his last year. It's tough in this game when you go through some difficult streaks. I just think it's a good time to get my mental break.”

Before getting an off-day on May 29, Semien had started 349 consecutive regular season games for the Rangers, along with all 17 postseason games of Texas’ World Series run in 2023. His regular season games played streak is the third-longest streak in club history (Mark Teixeira -- 507 games, 2004-07; second is 482, Alex Rodríguez from 2001-03).

Bochy said he wanted to give Semien a day off during the Rangers’ last road trip, but once shortstop Corey Seager was hit with a pitch on his wrist, they opted to sit Seager instead of Semien.

“This guy is incredible,” Bochy said of Semien. “He shows up every day and gives all that he has for you and for our team. I just think that it’s good to give him a break today.”

When Bochy gave Semien his first off day of the season on May 29, he said that the second baseman was “a little banged up” from a collision with right fielder Adolis García on a pop fly during a May 18 matchup with the Angels.

Bochy said he doesn’t believe Semien has any lingering issues from that hiccup, but it’s hard to not look at the numbers. Semien was hitting .270/.319/.465 through the first 47 games of the season through May 18. In 38 games since, he’s hitting .179/.262/.258.

Semien was not available in the clubhouse pregame.

“He hasn't said anything about it,” Bochy said. “We did talk last night, but yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Marcus is never going to talk about anything that's really bothering him. He comes out here to play every day. That's who he is. So I don't know.”

That being said, Semien’s expected numbers are much better that his actual numbers.

“His timing is off, there’s no getting around that,” Bochy said after Wednesday night’s loss to the Padres. “I think that's fair to say. He's done this before and he comes out of it. He's one of our guys, and you stay behind them. That’s what you do, especially in our situation.

“We need him right now. So we're going to stick behind him. He handles everything so well. We like his presence out there. But every hitter, just like pitchers, have their times when they're off a little bit. That's the case with him right now.”