The Texas Rangers positioned second baseman Marcus Semien on the injured record with a damaged left foot over the weekend, retroactive to Thursday’s video games. The results of a foul ball hitting the highest of his foot, Semien was initially recognized with a contusion, however after getting a number of extra opinions, that prognosis was revised to a fracture of the third metatarsal and a Lisfranc sprain. Semien, who turns 35 subsequent month and whose final harm that merited an IL stint was a wrist contusion again in 2017, is having certainly one of his weaker offensive seasons, with a .230/.305/.364 triple slash line, however because of his still-solid glove, he’s nonetheless amassed 2.1 WAR. The harm seemingly ends Semien’s common season, and given the place Texas is within the standings, in all probability his 2025.
I can’t consider many good instances to interrupt your foot. Simply talking for myself, I’d take into account a damaged foot preferable to, say, going to a marriage I actually don’t need to attend. However Semien is knowledgeable athlete, not an introverted middle-aged baseball analyst who writes from dwelling surrounded by computer systems and cats, and his group is on the brink. Texas is coming off a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians, however these three wins solely acquired the group again to the .500 mark, with a 9-13 file for August.
Semien famous on Sunday that he doesn’t imagine that surgical procedure will probably be required, and he’s really a bit extra fearful in regards to the Lisfranc sprain:
“Hopefully we get again on this race and we’ll see the place we’re at by that point,” Semien stated. “I’m gonna be looking forward to a short while right here. The lisfranc is what we’re most fearful about, simply making an attempt to maintain it intact by staying off of it. In the event you tear that, then it could possibly be a 12 months. I’m simply making an attempt to maintain that intact and let the opposite fracture heal.”
For many who, like me, get most of their information of human skeletons from the music Dem Bones:
Your phalanges related to the metatarsalsYour third metatarsal related to the lateral cuneiformYour lateral cunieform related to the navicular boneYour navicular bone related to the talusI hear the phrase of ElAttrache!
Or, extra helpfully, the metatarsals are bones in the course of the foot that assist bridge the toes and the ankle. The lateral cuneiform is likely one of the “suspension bridges” of the foot, preserving the arch of the foot steady. The Lisfranc ligament is just like the suspension cables that give that kind of bridge its identify, serving to to carry every part collectively. Image the inevitable destiny of the Golden Gate Bridge in any catastrophe film set in California, and you’ve got a fairly good thought of what’s happening in Semien’s foot in the intervening time.
Semien has a very good case for being essentially the most sturdy participant in baseball at the moment, together with his 1,145 video games because the begin of the 2018 season essentially the most, by 21 video games, over second-place Freddie Freeman. In baseball, current well being is broadly predictive of future well being, even for hitters, and whether or not or not we name it a talent, Semien’s endurance is one thing that has introduced numerous worth to his group, even in his lesser seasons.
Semien’s bat isn’t what it as soon as was, nevertheless it was nonetheless welcome to the Rangers, who, outdoors of a six-week interval or so in midsummer, have struggled immensely to constantly rating runs. Texas has scored two or fewer runs in 49 video games this season, the fifth-most in baseball, behind solely the Royals and three of the worst groups within the league (the White Sox, Rockies, and Pirates). Semien had an particularly brutal April, with a .182/.258/.245 line, however whereas he nonetheless hasn’t matched his preseason projections since then, hitting .244/.320/.400 is greater than respectable. This isn’t me arbitrarily taking an optimistic stretch of efficiency from Semien’s season; the projection programs all have him sustaining a roughly .720 OPS over the remainder of the season if not for the foot.
Much more importantly, Semien seemingly supplied higher offense than anybody else Texas has to play second base for the remainder of the 12 months. We venture Ezequiel Duran to get the overwhelming majority of the taking part in time down the stretch, and whereas he’s had a wonderful August, even Steamer, which is our most bullish projection system because it issues Duran, nonetheless simply predicts a .676 OPS from him. Forty factors of OPS is a big downgrade, and that’s the weakest a part of Semien’s recreation. Elsewhere on the roster, Josh Smith’s companies have been wanted within the outfield, and ZiPS doesn’t venture Cody Freeman to be higher than Duran, with a .242/.288/.384 projection. A 12 months in the past, I may need advised the Rangers simply roll the cube and throw Justin Foscue into the spot for six weeks, however he has solely a 105 wRC+ in Triple-A this 12 months, and his bat must be what carries him.
As of Monday morning, ZiPS tasks the Semien-less Rangers with a 9.1% likelihood of creating the playoffs, down from a 12.8% chance with a wholesome Semien, which means that this harm knocked out simply over 1 / 4 of the Texas’ playoff situations. At 4 1/2 video games behind the final Wild Card group, the Seattle Mariners, with 30 video games to go, each extra loss has a big influence on the Rangers’ destiny.
The Rangers may nonetheless very nicely make the playoffs — baseball may be bizarre typically, and there’s solely a lot anybody participant can do — however midnight ticked a little bit nearer for them this weekend.
