Marcus Semien's slump is no secret, now comes the hard part

Yes, it's time to have this conversation, Marcus Semien. What the heck is going on man?

We all know it and it hardly needs to be said but Semien is going through perhaps the worst offensive slump of his career. Currently 47 games into the season, the 34-year-old has a negative-WAR for the first time in his 13-year MLB career.

The worst part is that he knows it, and regardless of what the public consensus might be, it's both bad for his public perception and for his atttempt to right the ship. Let me explain.

The downfall of Marcus Semien

Semien is in his fourth season manning the Rangers middle infield alongside Corey Seager.

He had a huge 2023 regular season, hitting .276 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs and finished third in AL MVP voting. Unfortunately, that's truly the last positive for Semien in a Rangers jersey.

Through 47 games he's slashing he's hitting .174 with just three homers and 17 RBIs and a -0.4 WAR. In the span of the season he's lost his coveted leadoff spot and was moved down to fifth in the order. And he should fall further in the lineup if we are being honest.

“I’m not getting on base. I’m not scoring runs. I’m not doing anything in most offensive categories. It hasn’t been fun. It hasn’t been fun on the mental side. I’m glad we’ve been playing well despite it. I’m trying to focus on the good things and the good things to come," Semien told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News after Saturday's 5-1 win over Houston.

Semien has been on a downward trend ever since the start of last season. Over the last year, Semien is 124th out of 129 qualified hitters with a slash line of .208/.291/.327/.618. And his former love, fastballs high-and-inside, he's hitting just .189 against.

Now, what's next?

This is a tough one because the Gold Glover is owed $100 million and is under contract through the 2028 season. With that in mind, they aren't just going to toss him away or send him down to the minors.

They could give him more off days to allow him to get his mind right and put someone else in there that could be more productive. The Rangers do run into an issue there though with Corey Seager on the injured list, the next man up would be Ezequiel Duran. Which to be honest, I'd still rather have .174 hitting Semien in the lineup over Duran.

They could platoon him but I don't see how that solves the issue either. They want him to turn a corner and they want to win games, platooning doesn't do that. So I would very much think Semien should be moved down in the order to avoid any potential missed I opportunities like this one on Saturday.

One thing is for certain, they aren't going to give up on him until it physically pains them to watch every at-bat. Even then they still might make an excuse for him to be in the lineup.