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Series Thread: Rangers Travel to Boston For Three Games May 6-8

Senator_fan

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Don’t let Bregman beat you. Let the rookie do it if he can. Another very questionable decision.
 

Duane1952

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This one is on Bouchy. You don’t pitch to Bregman, who is having a good game with the bat. You don’t bring Boushley in a close game.
 

saddles

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Jamey Newberg went into detail about Semien's trend and his at bats tonight. It seems Jamey is finally admitting what seemed to be the case during the 2024 season. Here is what Newberg had to say:

Semien came up with a runner on first in the second inning. He popped out to shallow right.

The rest of his night was illuminating.

In the third, Semien was up with two outs and the bases loaded. On a 1-0 count, he hit a center-cut fastball 104.4 mph, but beat it into the ground to second base. Inning over.

In the fifth, Semien was hitting with nobody out, men on second and third, and the Boston infield drawn in. Tanner Houck’s first pitch could not have been any more centered up, an 83.9-mph sweeper that pierced the zone. Semien hit it on the ground, right at the shortstop. The runners had to hold.

In the seventh, nobody was on when Semien stood in against the lefty Bernardino. First pitch: a cutter right over the middle. And a well-struck lineout to center.

Semien hit two of the balls well, but here’s what’s troubling: it seems pretty clear that teams are not afraid to go right after him, middle-middle. The quality of his contact — strictly from an exit velo standpoint — has been OK in spots, but so often the launch angle has nullified it. Baseballs shot straight up, baseballs shot straight down. Ninety-plus won’t save balls like that.

I will never second-guess the seven-year deal to bring Semien here in tandem with the 10 years given to Corey Seager. It was perfect. Both deals — as most free-agent mega-deals are — were too long from an objective standpoint, but that’s the cost of getting guys like that to stop shopping themselves around. We got a parade, and both of those guys are massively responsible for that.

But we’re just in the middle year of Semien’s contract, and I hate that I’m wondering if, in the back half of his age-34 season, the consistency of his reads and rhythm at the plate are not coming back to what they were in his prime. He’s still a plus-plus defender and a very good baseball player and I want him on my team. But the at-bat quality is different.

The loss tonight is not a big deal. Boston is a good team, and a team struggling to play above .500 is not going to go into Fenway and shut that offense down and win ’em all.

This is a bigger concern than one loss.
 
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