Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien has been a modern-day Iron Man. While he wasn’t putting a scare into Cal Ripken Jr., who has the record for consecutive games played with 2,632, his streak was quite impressive.
Marcus Semien had started for 349 straight games. For 217 of them in the regular season and 17 during the 2023 postseason, it was in the leadoff spot for manager Bruce Bochy. But, on Wednesday afternoon, that streak came to an end.
For the first time since May 13th, 2022, Marcus Semien was not in the lineup for the Texas Rangers. According to Bochy, the reason for Semien being held out of the lineup was because he was sore from a collision with outfielder Adolis Garcia on May 18th.
“He’s been playing banged up. That’s a pretty good collision out there in right field, and he knows it’s time to try to get this thing cleared up, freshen up a little bit,” Bochy said. “This will get him a couple days.”
Marcus Semien had played in all eight games since the collision, but he was struggling at the plate. Over the last five games, he had gone 1-for-20, and he will now have a few days off before taking the field again.
After playing Wednesday afternoon against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a rematch of last season’s World Series, the Texas Rangers are off on Thursday. That will give him two days off before a weekend series against the Miami Marlins, as Bochy isn’t going to use him.
“He doesn’t need to bring his spikes out here,” Bochy said. “I don’t want him swinging. I want him to take a complete day off.”
Following the collision, Garcia was not in the lineup the following day. While Marcus Semien continued playing, Bochy did reveal that his second baseman is dealing with stiffness in his upper back in addition to getting hit in the head and neck.
Ultimately, it was a decision that Bochy and Semien came to together. For the Rangers to have the kind of success they are capable of, he needs to be healthy atop their lineup. Getting some rest is what they believe is the best route to ensure that happens.
“It was mutual. We talked,” Bochy said. “Now we’ve had conversations the last two or three days, Marcus was being Marcus then, but he agrees that it’s a good time to take a day.”
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