Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien is The Dallas Express Athlete of the Week after his performances against the Houston Astros, the Detroit Tigers, and the Atlanta Braves.
Over the last week, the veteran second baseman and two-time All-Star has gone 10 for 31 (.323 batting average) with three doubles, three home runs, and eight RBIs as Texas moves to 11-11 on the season and is tied with the Seattle Mariners for first place in the American League West.
Semien’s big week was highlighted by a three-hit game against the Tigers on Thursday, finishing a triple short of the cycle and clubbing a home run to lead things off as the Rangers slugged their way to a 9-7 win and took three out of four games on the road.
“It’s good to see it, that’s more who we are, more what we’re accustomed to,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after his offense broke out of a slump with six extra-base hits in the game. “We needed it. We had to slug today when the other team was scoring, too.”
Semien followed that performance with a two-hit game against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, launching a first-inning homer on a tough night for the Rangers’ offense, but he went 0-for-4 in Saturday’s rematch.
The 12-year veteran also contributed four hits in last weekend’s three-game series against the Astros.
The second baseman now has at least one hit in seven of the last nine games and is hitting .293 in April with four home runs and 14 RBIs — easily one of the best early starts to a season in his career. He is also playing superb defense and has yet to commit an error this season.
The Rangers (11-11) continue their season with a series finale against the Atlanta Braves (14-5) at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday. Semien will likely maintain the leadoff spot, while Michael Lorenzen (1-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his second Rangers start against Atlanta’s Darius Vines (0-0, 1.93).
