Texas Rangers: Why Marcus Semien will bust out of his slump to claim World Series MVP

Marcus Semien had a fantastic 2023 regular season

When you are on the same team as Corey Seager, your offensive numbers can sometimes be overlooked. That is probably the case for Semien. I know that I am guilty of this. When asked who the Rangers' best hitter is, I automatically say "Seager", and follow that up with, "It's really not close". And that isn't totally true. Now I will stand by my naming of Seager as the team's best hitter, and there is very little argument against that case. But don't sleep on Semien and his numbers from this year, as they are outstanding.

First of all, Semien is the leadoff batter for the Rangers. There is more to that role than many people realize. You are always the first guy to see what the starting pitcher has to offer that particular day and you have to set the stage for the guys behind you. Over the course of a season, you will have more at-bats than anyone else on the team, simply because your spot in the order comes up more. That is absolutely the case for someone like Semien who plays every day. In fact, he played in all 162 games this season and occupied the leadoff spot in every one of them.

Semien was at, or near the top in many statical categories this season. He slashed .276/.348/.478 for the year and had an OPS+ of 122. In the American League, he ranked 10th in average, 13th in on-base percentage, and 14th in slugging percentage. Also in the AL, he was 12th with 29 home runs, 1st with 122 runs scored, 4th with 100 runs batted in, 17th with 14 stolen bases, he had the 8th lowest K% at 14.6%, and he finished the season only behind Shohei Ohtani in position player fWAR with 6.3. The bottom line is, that the guy can rake, he has just hit a rough patch in the playoffs. That is going to turn around in the World Series, and perhaps already has.

Next: Semien finding his groove