While the rejuvenation on offense was short-lived for the Texas Rangers, they’ve started making necessary changes that hopefully creates a consistent spark.
Manager Bruce Bochy made daring changes to the lineup on Tuesday night that finally spurred production in the 8-5 victory over the Athletics, particularly with second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager.
Unfortunately, the dividends from the reshuffled lineup lasted until Seager limped off the field in the top of the sixth and was placed on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain.
But the shakeup is worth examining despite unpalatable results in the 5-2 loss on Wednesday.
Prior to his exit, Seager moved down to the third spot from second, where he previously followed up Semien leading off.
Semien moved down to the fifth spot in the order on Tuesday and had his best game of the year. His replacement, utility man Josh Smith, led off with a walk to start the game and a home run in four at-bats.
Semien has led off in 330 of 342 regular-season games and all 17 playoffs games in 2023 during Bochy’s tenure as manager, but he hasn’t flourished thus far in the 2025 campaign.
He entered Tuesday’s contest with a .141/.209/.192 slash line in 78 at-bats with 12 hits, one home run and six RBI.
The decision to move Semien down and alleviate pressure allowed him to gain footing, and he had one hit, one home run and four RBI in three at-bats on Tuesday.
MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reported that Semien understood the logic behind the shakeup ahead of his stellar night.
“I don’t have any say right now, until I start getting back to doing what I do,” Semien said. “I have no say, so that’s where I’m at. I hit some balls hard last game. There are certain days where I come back into the clubhouse after the game thinking that day could have been a lot different on the stat sheet, if I had found the gap here or there. But it hasn’t been that way right now. It’s frustrating. But like I said, the Rangers are playing well. That’s what matters.”
On Wednesday, Texas was without two players in that working order as Bochy elected to rest Smith in the second game of the series against the Athletics.
It led to a weird lineup that didn’t quite gel or cluster hits together to gain momentum in the loss.
Left fielder Wyatt Langford remained at the two spot for a consecutive night as the team’s top hitter, but the pieces around him didn’t work the same way they did Tuesday.
Semien didn’t have a night close to Tuesday in the five-hole, either. However, it may be the best spot for the second baseman, as he feels less pressure while he tries to get things going.
Bochy can’t deploy his new coveted lineup as Seager nurses his injury on the IL, but he can look at the strategy and tweak what worked in the big picture.
That might result in Smith returning to the lead off spot to hopefully spark momentum in tandem with Langford while Semien finds his footing down in the order.
