The Texas Rangers positioned second baseman Marcus Semien on the injured listing 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 identified with a contusion, however after getting a number of further opinions, that analysis was revised to a fracture of the third metatarsal and a Lisfranc sprain. Semien, who turns 35 subsequent month and whose final damage that merited an IL stint was a wrist contusion again in 2017, is having one in every of his weaker offensive seasons, with a .230/.305/.364 triple slash line, however due to his still-solid glove, he’s nonetheless amassed 2.1 WAR. The damage doubtless ends Semien’s common season, and given the place Texas is within the standings, most likely his 2025.
I can’t consider many good occasions to interrupt your foot. Simply talking for myself, I would take into account a damaged foot preferable to, say, going to a marriage I actually don’t need to attend. However Semien is an expert athlete, not an introverted middle-aged baseball analyst who writes from house surrounded by computer systems and cats, and his workforce is on the brink. Texas is coming off a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians, however these three wins solely obtained the workforce again to the .500 mark, with a 9-13 document for August.
Semien famous on Sunday that he doesn’t imagine that surgical procedure will likely 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 anticipating 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 yr. 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 data of human skeletons from the track Dem Bones:
Your phalanges linked to the metatarsals
Your third metatarsal linked to the lateral cuneiform
Your lateral cunieform linked to the navicular bone
Your navicular bone linked to the talus
I hear the phrase of ElAttrache!
Or, extra helpfully, the metatarsals are bones in the midst of the foot that assist bridge the toes and the ankle. The lateral cuneiform is without doubt one of the “suspension bridges” of the foot, holding the arch of the foot secure. The Lisfranc ligament is just like the suspension cables that give that form of bridge its identify, serving to to carry every little thing collectively. Image the inevitable destiny of the Golden Gate Bridge in any catastrophe film set in California, and you’ve got a reasonably good thought of what’s happening in Semien’s foot in the intervening time.
Semien has case for being probably the most sturdy participant in baseball at the moment, along with his 1,145 video games for the reason that begin of the 2018 season probably 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 quite a lot of worth to his workforce, 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 persistently 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 doubtless supplied higher offense than anybody else Texas has to play second base for the remainder of the yr. We undertaking Ezequiel Duran to get the overwhelming majority of the enjoying 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 major 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 undertaking Cody Freeman to be higher than Duran, with a .242/.288/.384 projection. A yr in the past, I may need urged 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 yr, and his bat must be what carries him.
As of Monday morning, ZiPS tasks the Semien-less Rangers with a 9.1% likelihood of constructing the playoffs, down from a 12.8% likelihood with a wholesome Semien, that means that this damage knocked out simply over 1 / 4 of the Texas’ playoff eventualities. At 4 1/2 video games behind the final Wild Card workforce, the Seattle Mariners, with 30 video games to go, each further loss has a major impression on the Rangers’ destiny.
The Rangers may nonetheless very effectively make the playoffs — baseball might be bizarre typically, and there’s solely a lot anybody participant can do — however midnight ticked a bit of nearer for them this weekend.
