Tag Archives: Marcus Semien

November 23, 2025

Swapping Veterans

There seems to be some excitement about the Mets and Rangers swapping veteran players:

The Mets’ first major move after missing the postseason involved trading their longest-tenured player.

They’re sending Brandon Nimmo — who had a full no-trade clause after inking his eight-year, $162 million deal back in 2022 — to the Rangers in exchange for infielder Marcus Semien, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed.

The Mets’ longtime outfielder approved the deal, according to Heyman.
NYPost.com

Rangers right fielders hit poorly in 2025, so Nimmo provides an upgrade at that position. He remains a solid two to three WAR player as he goes into his age 33 season. The Mets second basemen hit on par with Semien in 2025. Semien’s age 34 season proved to be an off-year for the late blooming middle infielder, after five of his previous six seasons saw him post fWARs over 4.0, and with three seasons of at least six fWAR. I suspect the Mets believe that he will bounce back at seasonal age 35, and his projections are for 2.9 fWAR.

Note that Semien didn’t just suffer and offensive decline, but a defensive one as well. The injury that shortened his season came at the end, so it did not factor into his poor performance. With an overall decline like that, I tend to think it is age related. If Semien can turn in a three-WAR performance for the Mets, the deal will probably be worth it.

July 1, 2025

Best Batter Today

Cal Raleigh of the Mariners remained at the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings as he increased his MLB leading home run total to 33 with a one for three and a sacrifice fly in a 6-2 win over the Royals. He is on a 64 home run pace. Aaron Judge of the Yankees drew two walks in a 5-4 Blue Jays win, Toronto now two games out in third place in the AL East, the Rays losing as well. Judge remained in fourth place.

Kyle Tucker of the Cubs, Riley Greene of the Tigers, and Matt Olson of the Braves stand second, third, and fifth respectively, as their teams were idle Monday.

The best game score of the day belonged to Marcus Semien of the Rangers, an 80. Semien went three for three with two walks and a home run in a 10-6, 11 innings Orioles win. After a horrid first two months of the season, Semien returned to form in June, batting .324/.383/.549 for the month, fourteen of his 33 hits going for extra bases.

June 6, 2025

Best Batter Today

The top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings remain the same, but the race for the top spot tightened. Aaron Judge of the Yankees went one for one with a double, two walks, and a hit by pitch to in a 4-0 win over the Guardians. His perfect night at the plate raised his BA to .392 and his OBP to .493. Cal Raleigh of the Mariners went two for four with a home run and three RBI in a 4-3 Orioles win. Judge now leads Raleigh by 0.62 points.

Jose Ramirez of the Guardians posted a two for four in the Yankees win and sits in third place. Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers posted a two for four in a 6-5 win over the Mets for fourth place, while Kyle Tucker of the Cubs returned to action with a double and two walks in a 7-1 win over the Nationals. Those three are separated by less than five points.

The best game score of the day belonged to Marcus Semien of the Rangers, a 78. He went three four four with two home runs in a 4-3 Rays win. Semien is six for 12 in June with four extra-base hits, but is still batting .210/.298/.308 on the season. He also fielded the two-run infield hit that ended the game. The first baseman also went for the ball, so there was no one at first. It looked to me like Semien thought Junior Caminero would stop at third, but Caminero never let up, and Semien’s throw to the plate came in late.

April 19, 2024

Best Batter Today

The top five of Baseball Musings Batter Rankings remain unchanged, as none of those players were in action on Thursday. Juan Soto of the Yankees, Mookie Betts of the Dodgers, Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, Marcell Ozuna of the Braves, and Jose Altuve of the Astros remain the top in that order.

The best game score of the day belonged to Marcus Semien of the Rangers. He posted a three for six with a double and a home run for a score of 69 in a 9-7 win over the Tigers. Semien’s start is consistent with his excellent 2023 season. His OBP is up a bit and his slugging percentage is down a bit, but overall he is once again a productive hitter at the top of the order. He ranks 36th overall.

November 2, 2023

Best Batter Today

World Series MVP Corey Seager makes it into the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings on the last day of the season. He went two for four with a walk for a game score of 59, second highest on the day. His teammate, Marcus Semien, posted the highest game score of 62 with a two for five night. He picked up a single and a home run as the Rangers beat the Diamondbacks 5-0 to clinch the World Series title.

The vacationing Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Bryce Harper rank one through four respectively.

November 1, 2023

Best Batter Today

Corey Seager of the Rangers moves into the fifth slot of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after going two for five with a double and a home run in the 11-7 win over the Diamondbacks in game four of the 2023 World Series. Seager now trails the vacationing Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Bryce Harper who rank one through four respectively. Seager sits just 0.1 point ahead of Yandy Diaz, so fifth place is not a lock for the off-season. He also is about three points behind Harper and six points behind Judge. With up to three games remaining, third place is not out of the question.

Marcus Semien of the Rangers produced the best game score of the day, a 69. He did a base better than Seager, going two for five with a triple and a home run. Semien produced a rather poor post-season, with a .211/.273/.310 slash line, but Tuesday night’s game gave him a big contribution.

October 31, 2023

Who Needs Garcia?

Travis Jankowski is doing a very good Adolis Garcia impression. He just doubled with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead. That gives him half a cycle. Marcus Semien gets the other half as he follows with a three-run homer to go with his triple, and the Rangers lead 10-0.

October 30, 2023

Pick Pocket

Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks extends his post-season hit streak to 19 games as he hits a ball so hard, Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien cannot keep it in his webbing. At first, I thought Semien’s glove broke, but the ball spun out of the edge of the webbing. The two out single does not lead to anything as the Rangers continue to lead Game 3 of the World Series 3-0.

October 30, 2023

Marcus Makes His Mark

Nathaniel Lowe of the Rangers doubles leading off the top of the third inning, but finds himself at third base with two out. Marcus Semien breaks his slump with a single to put the Rangers on top 1-0. Before Brandon Pfaadt can catch his breath, Corey Seager puts the first pitch he sees into the rightfield stands for a home run, and the Rangers lead the Diamondbacks 3-0.

October 19, 2023

Tuck in Your Batting Gloves

Marcus Semien of the Rangers gets doubled off first base on a line drive by Corey Seager due to Jose Abreu of the Astros brushing a finger of Semien’s batting glove that was sticking out of his back pocket. The umpire called him safe, but the play was overturned on replay. It’s a game of millimeters.

The Astros lead 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning.

October 14, 2023

Birth and the Playoffs

The wife of Marcus Semien decided to move her pregnancy along so Semien could be present for the birth and not miss any of the ALCS:

Semien rejoined the team Friday after spending a couple of days with his family for the birth of his first daughter, Amelie Carol Anne. The couple went to a hospital Wednesday, and their bundle of joy was born around midday Thursday.
ESPN.com

Congratulations to the Semiens! The little girl joins three brothers.

Bruce Bochy was not surprised, as Semien did not miss a game this season:

“He’s a manager’s dream,” Bochy said. “One spot I never had to think about who was going to play there or who was going to hit there. He’s just relentless with his work ethic and his ability to go out there every day.

September 24, 2023

Best Batter Today

Mookie Betts of the Dodgers returns to the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings with two doubles and two walks in five plate appearances in a 7-0 win over the Giants. Betts also drove in two runs, giving him 105 RBI from the leadoff slot, a new record.

Betts’ RBIs are the most by a leadoff hitter in a single season, two more than Charlie Blackmon’s 103 for Colorado in 2017. Betts’ double in the eighth extended the lead to 7-0.
APNews.com

One thing I like to look at is RBI by player slot. This almost always goes to someone batting third or fourth. My list goes back to 1974, and only two seasons, 2014 and 2015, produced an RBI slot leader outside of that range. In 2014, Mike Trout drove in 109 RBI from the second slot, and in 2015, Josh Donaldson drove in 113 RBI from the second slot. Betts’ 105 RBI makes him the slot leader for 2023, and it will be very impressive if he winds up the slot leader for the season. He currently leads by four RBI over Pete Alonso of the Mets and Ronald Acuna Jr.of the Braves, also a lead-off hitter. In fact three of the top ten RBI slot leaders come from the top of the lineup as Marcus Semien of the Rangers owns 95 RBI.

The 2023 season already ranks second in the 1974+ time period for most RBI by lead-off hitters at 2250, 70 RBI behind the 2019 season. Part of this is the universal DH, but part of it might be the realization that the Lineup Analysis Tool tendency to put great hitters at the top of the order and a good OBP hitter ninth is in fact a good strategy. That strategy will get less push back with a DH than batting at pitcher eighth.

Acuna remains at the top of the list with the Braves against the Nationals rained out on Saturday. Juan Soto of the Padres singled and walked in a 5-2, eleven innings St. Louis win, putting Soto in second place. Fourth place belongs to Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, one for four with a double in a 3-2 Royals win. The fifth slot goes to Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners, Also one for four with a double, his in a 2-0 Rangers win as Texas takes control of the AL West race.

Yandy Diaz of the Rays generated the best game score of Saturday, an 83. He went four for four with a double and a home run in a 7-6 walk-off win over the Blue Jays. He raised his BA to .327 and his OBP to .407, both rank second in AL. Diaz currently ranks seventh in the ratings.

September 11, 2023

Best Batter Today

Matt Olson of the Braves returns to the top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. He drove in three runs with a two for three and a walk to help the Braves beat the Pirates 5-2 and Atlanta secure a playoff slot. That moves him into the fifth slot. His teammate, Ronald Acuna Jr.went one for three with a walk and ranks fourth.

Mookie Betts of the Dodgers remains in first place as he returned to the Dodgers lineup on Sunday. He drew a walk in five plate appearances. Yordan Alvarez of the Astros moves into second place as he posted a two for three day with a sacrifice fly in a 12-2 win over the Padres. Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners drops to third place with a two for five in a 6-3 Rays win.

Marcus Semien of the Rangers went four for five with a double and two home runs for a game score of 86, by far the best of the day. Semien’s .351 OBP stands as the best single season mark of his career, and is well above his career average of .325. He ranks 30th.

September 7, 2023

Best Batter Today

Mookie Betts of the Dodgers leads Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners by 2.6 points in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Betts drew a walk in three plate appearances in an 11-4 Marlins win as Miami stays hot. Rodriguez went 0 for 5 in a 8-4 win over the Reds to drop a bit back. His teammate, J.P. Crawford, homered in five at bats and ranks fifth.

Slots three and four belong to the Astros. Alex Bregman went two for five with a double in the 12-3 win over the reeling Rangers, Houston sweeping the three-game series. Texas is now three games back in the division and 1/2 game back for the third wild card slot. Yordan Alvarez of the Astros homered and walked twice in the game and ranks fourth.

The one bright spot for Texas in the game was Marcus Semien, who produced the highest game score on Wednesday, an 87. His four for four with two home runs drove in all three Rangers runs. Semien now ranks 47th as he produces a very nice .277/.350/.463 out of the lead-off slot.

July 16, 2023

Starting With a Bang

Stephen Kwan of the Guardians and Marcus Semien of the Rangers each hit a lead-off home run in the game at Texas Sunday afternoon. That’s the second time this season both teams started their offenses with home runs.

That combination was fairly rare up to 2015. This is the 24th time it happened from 2015 on, or a little under three times a season.

The game is tied at one in the top of the second inning.

June 7, 2023

Beat the Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

0.349 — Luis Arraez batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.344 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.321 — Emmanuel Rivera batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.319 — Bo Bichette batting against Ronel Blanco.
0.310 — Gabriel Moreno batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.308 — Giovanny Urshela batting against Jameson Taillon.
0.303 — Thairo Estrada batting against Connor Seabold.
0.303 — Matt McLain batting against Noah Syndergaard.
0.302 — Corbin Carroll batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.300 — Ketel Marte batting against Patrick Corbin.

The Diamondbacks get to face Corbin, which usually means a good day for hitters. Both Gurriel and Rivera produce high OBPs without a lot of walks.

Here are the NN picks:

0.349, 0.783 — Luis Arraez batting against Jordan Lyles.
0.344, 0.745 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.319, 0.741 — Bo Bichette batting against Ronel Blanco.
0.294, 0.717 — Joey Meneses batting against Zach Davies.
0.308, 0.715 — Giovanny Urshela batting against Jameson Taillon.
0.303, 0.711 — Thairo Estrada batting against Connor Seabold.
0.321, 0.711 — Emmanuel Rivera batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.271, 0.707 — Freddie Freeman batting against Brandon Williamson.
0.271, 0.699 — Nick Castellanos batting against Reese Olson.
0.310, 0.698 — Gabriel Moreno batting against Patrick Corbin.

The NN produces a similar list, with another very high probability day for the hot Arraez. He and Gurriel are the unanimous double down picks. Marcus Semien, who extended his hit streak to 25 games with a one for five on Tuesday is projected to have a .251 hit average against Jack Flaherty and a probability of .657 of picking up at least one hit in the game.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

June 6, 2023

Beat the Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

0.365 — Luis Arraez batting against Zack Greinke.
0.336 — Freddie Freeman batting against Luke Weaver.
0.322 — Nick Castellanos batting against Tyler Alexander.
0.299 — Bo Bichette batting against Hunter Brown.
0.299 — J.D. Martinez batting against Luke Weaver.
0.297 — Tim Anderson batting against Clarke Schmidt.
0.294 — Bryan De La Cruz batting against Zack Greinke.
0.291 — Giovanny Urshela batting against Hayden Wesneski.
0.287 — Bryson Stott batting against Tyler Alexander.
0.286 — Trea Turner batting against Tyler Alexander.

When the Marlins play the AL Central, we get some idea of how well Arraez hits the starting pitcher. Against Greinke he collected five hits in fourteen at bats with no walks, extra-base hits, or strikeouts, for a .357/.357/.357 slash line.

Marcus Semien, with a 24-game hit streak, is projected to own a .252 hit average against Matthew Liberatore.

Here are the NN picks:

0.365, 0.788 — Luis Arraez batting against Zack Greinke.
0.336, 0.746 — Freddie Freeman batting against Luke Weaver.
0.299, 0.732 — Bo Bichette batting against Hunter Brown.
0.322, 0.732 — Nick Castellanos batting against Tyler Alexander.
0.297, 0.712 — Tim Anderson batting against Clarke Schmidt.
0.276, 0.711 — Joey Meneses batting against Tommy Henry.
0.291, 0.708 — Giovanny Urshela batting against Hayden Wesneski.
0.282, 0.704 — Harold Ramirez batting against Louie Varland.
0.277, 0.704 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Jake Irvin.
0.294, 0.700 — Bryan De La Cruz batting against Zack Greinke.

Once again Arraez owns a much higher probability of getting a hit in a game than anyone else on the list. His .788 is the highest single game probability seen this season. The two systems agree on Freeman as the double down pick.

The NN gives Semien a .662 probability of advancing his hit streak.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

June 5, 2023

Semien Moment

Marcus Semien of the Rangers extends his hitting streak to 24 games with a single in the second. He’s 34 for 103 during his run.

Texas is hitting again, leading the Cardinals 3-1 in the top of the third in Texas. They already have six hits, two of them doubles.

June 5, 2023

Beat the Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

0.333 — Luis Arraez batting against Carlos Hernandez.
0.329 — Nick Castellanos batting against Joey Wentz.
0.315 — Bo Bichette batting against Brandon Bielak.
0.300 — Paul Goldschmidt batting against Martin Perez.
0.299 — Harold Ramirez batting against Brayan Bello.
0.298 — Bryson Stott batting against Joey Wentz.
0.295 — Wander Franco batting against Brayan Bello.
0.294 — Corey Seager batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.292 — Leody Taveras batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.292 — Josh Jung batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.291 — Ezequiel Duran batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.290 — Marcus Semien batting against Adam Wainwright.

The extended list captures Semien who now owns a twenty three game hit streak. If you click on a name on the current hit streaks page, you’ll see the details. Semien shows a number of games with just one hit, and an overall BA of .327. While his BA isn’t very high for a hot player, Semien collect a high number of long hits. Fifteen of his 33 hits in the streak went for extra bases, including two triples. Note also that with only six walks, his hit average is high.

Wander Franco missed Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, so check his status before the Rays game.

Here are the NN picks:

0.333, 0.771 — Luis Arraez batting against Carlos Hernandez.
0.315, 0.739 — Bo Bichette batting against Brandon Bielak.
0.329, 0.730 — Nick Castellanos batting against Joey Wentz.
0.299, 0.720 — Harold Ramirez batting against Brayan Bello.
0.295, 0.711 — Wander Franco batting against Brayan Bello.
0.300, 0.705 — Paul Goldschmidt batting against Martin Perez.
0.283, 0.691 — Yandy Diaz batting against Brayan Bello.
0.288, 0.690 — Nathaniel Lowe batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.284, 0.688 — Trea Turner batting against Joey Wentz.
0.294, 0.687 — Corey Seager batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.287, 0.687 — Salvador Perez batting against Braxton Garrett.

Arraez ranks head and shoulder above everyone else again. Bichette and Castellanos tie for the consensus double down choice.

The NN assigns a .681 probability to Semien continuing his streak.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

June 1, 2023

Best Batter Today

Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers extended his lead in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings with a two hits and a walk in a 10-6 Washington win. He now leads Aaron Judge of the Yankees by eight points. Judge drew a walk in four trips as Seattle takes the game 1-0. Freeman and Marcus Semien also extended their hit streaks to 20 games. Semien ranks 16th.

Juan Soto of the Padres sits in third place after a rare 0 for 3 in a 2-1 Marlins win. Yordan Alvarez takes fourth place after he drew a walk in an 8-2 Twins win.

Bo Bichette moves back into fifth place as he singles in a 4-2 Brewers win.

The best game score of the day goes to Josh Naylor of the Guardians. He went four for five with two doubles and a home run in a 12-8 win over the Orioles. Naylor needed a game like that as it raises his slash line for the season to .251/.304/.443.

May 31, 2023

Beat the Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

0.357 — Freddie Freeman batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.328 — Joey Meneses batting against Noah Syndergaard.
0.311 — J.D. Martinez batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.302 — Alex Verdugo batting against Luke Weaver.
0.300 — Masataka Yoshida batting against Luke Weaver.
0.299 — Lane Thomas batting against Noah Syndergaard.
0.297 — Luis Garcia batting against Noah Syndergaard.
0.296 — Leody Taveras batting against Joey Wentz.
0.295 — Luis Arraez batting against Blake Snell.
0.295 — Bo Bichette batting against Julio Teheran.

Freeman remains tied with Marcus Semien with an active nineteen game hit streak, the longest in the majors at the moment. Semien ranks 16th on the list with a .289 projected hit average against Wentz. The Nationals and Dodgers looks like it should produce plenty of hits with Corbin and Syndergaard on the mound. Thomas owns a 15 game hit streak, Martinez a 14 game hit streak.

Here are the NN picks:

0.357, 0.760 — Freddie Freeman batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.295, 0.743 — Luis Arraez batting against Blake Snell.
0.328, 0.731 — Joey Meneses batting against Noah Syndergaard.
0.295, 0.728 — Bo Bichette batting against Julio Teheran.
0.302, 0.710 — Alex Verdugo batting against Luke Weaver.
0.293, 0.709 — Giovanny Urshela batting against Lance Lynn.
0.284, 0.707 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Dinelson Lamet.
0.311, 0.704 — J.D. Martinez batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.278, 0.697 — Nick Castellanos batting against Carlos Carrasco.
0.300, 0.697 — Masataka Yoshida batting against Luke Weaver.
0.275, 0.691 — Nico Hoerner batting against Zach Eflin.
0.297, 0.691 — Luis Garcia batting against Noah Syndergaard.

Freeman beats out Arraez by a good amount here, and in this case it’s due to the quality of the pitchers faced. One should note, however, that Corbin handled Freeman well in their careers. Freeman is 8 for 39 with four walks and 13 strikeouts. That’s a high K rate for Freeman, who doesn’t K much for a slugger.

Freeman and Meneses are the consensus 1-2 picks today, although it’s tough to go wrong doubling down on Arraez.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

May 29, 2023

Beat The Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

0.301 — Freddie Freeman batting against Trevor Williams.
0.294 — Austin Hays batting against Logan Allen.
0.293 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Karl Kauffmann.
0.290 — Elias Diaz batting against Ryne Nelson.
0.284 — Ronald Acuna batting against Paul Blackburn.
0.283 — Randal Grichuk batting against Ryne Nelson.
0.281 — Salvador Perez batting against Adam Wainwright.
0.275 — Harold Castro batting against Ryne Nelson.
0.273 — Joey Meneses batting against Bobby Miller.
0.272 — Matt M Duffy batting against Adam Wainwright.

Freeman owns a seventeen game hit streak, tied with Marcus Semien for the longest in the majors currently. It’s a fairly incredible streak, as Freeman’s slash line stands at .441/.519/.809.

Here are the NN picks:

0.301, 0.724 — Freddie Freeman batting against Trevor Williams.
0.293, 0.712 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Karl Kauffmann.
0.273, 0.699 — Joey Meneses batting against Bobby Miller.
0.267, 0.697 — Tim Anderson batting against Griffin Canning.
0.294, 0.696 — Austin Hays batting against Logan Allen.
0.284, 0.696 — Ronald Acuna batting against Paul Blackburn.
0.290, 0.686 — Elias Diaz batting against Ryne Nelson.
0.269, 0.686 — Nico Hoerner batting against Taj Bradley.
0.283, 0.685 — Randal Grichuk batting against Ryne Nelson.
0.281, 0.684 — Salvador Perez batting against Adam Wainwright.

On a limited schedule day, there is a lot of agreement between the two systems. Both agree on Freeman, with Gurriel the consensus double down choice.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

September 13, 2022

Best Batter Today

Aaron Judge and the Yankees and Paul Goldschmidt and the Cardinals did not play on Monday. The two sluggers remain one and four respectively in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers goes 0 for 3 with a walk in a 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks to hold second place. The Dodgers have now clinched a playoff slot, and can clinch the division tonight with a win or a Padres loss.

Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve of the Astros stand third and fifth respectively. Both collect two singles in a 7-0 win over the Tigers, and Bregman adds a walk.

The best game score of the day goes to Marcus Semien of the Rangers. He posts an 80 in game two of the doubleheader against the Marlins. Semien goes three for four with a hit by pitch, missing the cycle by a double in the 10-6 Miami win. Semien was unable to repeat his great 2021 campaign, but he’s come back to life in September. He’s 16 for 53 this month with seven extra-base hits.

With his home run streak, Mike Trout is now 26th on the list.

July 22, 2022

Best Batter Today

Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers sits atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after a a one for two night with a home run and two walks in a 9-6 win over the Dodgers. Freeman’s game score of 66 ties with three others for best of the day.

One of those he tied was Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, who returned to the starting lineup in game two of the doubleheader against the Yankees. He picked up where he left off, going two for four with a double and a home run to help win the game 7-5. Alvarez also picked up a hit in game one as a pinch hitter as Houston sweeps the day. Houston is now just 2 1/2 games behind New York for the best record in the AL.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals, as well as Juan Soto of the Nationals did not play. They rank three, four, and five respectively.

The other two 66 game scores go to Seth Brown of the Athletics and Marcus Semien of the Rangers. Brown goes two for four with a double and a home run in game one of a doubleheader against the Tigers, Detroit taking the game 7-2. Power is his forte, as he owns a career .225 BA but a .443 slugging percentage. The teams split on the day. Semien goes two for three with a double and a walk as Texas beats Miami 8-0. Semien collected twenty extra-base hits since June 1 after accumulating just eleven in April and May.

July 10, 2022

Best Batter Today

Saturday brought little change to the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals remains in first place after an 0 for 4 in a 1-0 Philadelphia victory. His teammate, Nolan Arenado, also took an 0 for 4, adding a strikeout to fall to fourth place behind the injured Bryce Harper of the Phillies.

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros fails to close the gap between first and second, however, as he also goes 0 for 4, but with two strikeouts. He remains in second place about six points behind Goldschmidt. His teammate, Jose Altuve, goes one for three with a walk to remain in fifth place as the Athletics win 3-2.

On a day with few big offensive games, three players tie with game scores of 74 for the best Saturday performances. Marcus Semien of the Rangers goes two for four with a walk, a triple, and a home run as the Twins fall 9-7. Jose Ramirez of the Guardians misses the cycle by a triple as he goes three for four in a 13-1 win over the Royals. Brandon Drury of the Reds goes four for five with two doubles in a 5-4, extra-inning win over the Rays. His two run single in the 8th inning tied the game.

July 5, 2022

Best Batter Today

Jose Abreu takes the fifth slot in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings in the big change for the day. Abreu goes two for four with a double and a home run, but the Twins take the game 6-3 in ten innings. He’s been mashing the ball since late May, with a .367/.457/.573 slash line in his last 39 games.

Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals remains at the top after a one for four in a 6-3 Atlanta victory. His teammate, Nolan Arenado posted a two for five in the game and remains fourth.

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros hit a two out, walk off home run in the bottom of ninth to beat the Royals 7-6. He also drew walks in the game and remains second. No one yet passed the injured Bryce Harper of the Phillies, who remains third.

Marcus Semien of the Rangers posted the highest game score of the day, a 74. He goes three for four with a home run and a hit by pitch in a 7-6, ten inning, Orioles win. Semien posted a might year for the Blue Jays in 2021 after a rather poor 2020. He hit 45 home runs last season, but only has ten so far in 2022. His slash line is much more like 2020. In general, he’s hit worse in even years than odd years, and it’s been especially stark the last six seasons.

November 28, 2021

Deals Coming Fast

The Twins sign Byron Buxton to a seven season deal worth at least $100 million. That’s a lot of money for an oft injured player:

Buxton received a full no-trade clause in the deal and will be paid $500,000 every time he reaches 502, 533, 567, 600 and 625 plate appearances, the sources said.
ESPN.com

I assume those are in addition to the about mentioned above. $2.5 million a year is a good incentive to stay healthy.

The Rangers take Marcus Semien off the shortstop pile with a seven year deal worth $175 million. Semien ranks 61st in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, and fourth among the free agent shortstops. He played second base in 2021, however.

The move to second base went smoothly as well, as Semien won a Gold Glove. He played every game for the second time in three seasons (and has missed just 10 games over the past four) and led the majors with 86 extra-base hits. While he played in the shadow of teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. throughout the season, Semien finished second in the American League in Baseball-Reference WAR behind Shohei Ohtani and third in FanGraphs WAR behind Ohtani and Guerrero, then finished third in the MVP race, matching his result in 2019, and making him the only player with two top-three MVP finishes in the past three seasons.
ESPN.com

I estimate that Semien will be worth about 27.3 WAR during the seven seasons, meaning the Rangers valued a single WAR from him at about $6.4 million.

Finally, the Marlins spear outfielder Avisail Garcia for four years, $5 3 million.

The Marlins will become Garcia’s fifth team. The 30-year-old is coming off his best season, hitting 29 home runs with 86 RBIs — both career bests — for Milwaukee in 2021.
ESPN.com

I estimate his WAR over the contract at 6.9, or $7.7 million per WAR. One thing that made him more valuable lately is his defense. A negative most of his career, he turned that around with the Brewers, making me wonder if they have a great defensive coach on that team.

November 18, 2021

MVP! MVP!

The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announces the winners of the Most Valuable Player Award this evening. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels,, and Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays top the list in the American League. Bryce Harper of the Phillies, Juan Soto of the Nationals, and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres represent the finalists in the National League. None came from a playoff team.

I find the exclusion of Zack Wheeler from the NL list fascinating. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference show Wheeler with a higher WAR than any batter. He also led the league in innings pitched with 213 1/3. I suspect writers don’t see 213 1/3 innings as a very high total to lead the league, and they’re right. Teams to a great extent have devalued starting pitching, and the writers have followed suit.

The winner in the NL comes down to Haper or Soto, as Tatis’s injuries cut down his playing time compared to the other two. Soto hit .295/.420/.510 before the Nationals fire sale, .342/.528/.574 after. It strikes me that when Soto was the only hitter who could do damage, teams did not pitch as carefully to him. If there was a situation where he might do real damage, they just walked him. Meanwhile, there is a huge split between how FanGraphs and Baseball Reference value Harper. FanGraphs has him second to another former National, Trea Turner, while BR has him ninth in WAR among position players. Given that Harper won the Hank Aaron Award, I suspect Bryce will win in a close vote.

Ohtani is the favorite in the American League. His ability to pitch well and hit well represents tremendous value, as he actually saves a roster spot for his team. Baseball Reference has him posting 4.9 WAR on the batting side, and 4.1 WAR on the pitching side. Either of those seasons would be great alone, but together they are a sure winner. I think this will be a landslide.

I also have to ask, how can Toronto have three players in consideration for the two major awards, good talent around them, and not make the playoffs? They are looking like a great team long term.

November 8, 2021

Odd MVPs

Does anyone find it a big odd that in both the National League and the American League, none of the finalists for Most Valuable Player came from a team that made the playoffs? Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, and Fernando Tatis Jr.make up the NL finalists, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Shohei Ohtani, and Marcus Semien made the AL top three. I think it’s good that sport writers are looking past playing for a playoff team, but it is impressive that the ten teams that did get to the post-season didn’t have someone worthy of the award. Trea Turner of the Nationals and Dodgers led the majors in fWAR for batters. Corbin Burnes of the Brewers had an even higher fWAR than Turner. Maybe in today’s game a team that’s well balanced with solid players is the way to win, rather than depending on a star or two.

September 25, 2021

Another Position Home Run Record

The Blue Jays announcers reported that Marcus Semien‘s home run in the sixth inning, his 43rd of the season, tied a record for most HR by a second baseman in a season. Like the supposed record set by Salvador Perez, this lumps all home runs into the primary position of the batter. We know , however, how many HR hit by every position.

The announcers said he tied Davey Johnson‘s 43 in 1973, but 42 of those came as a second baseman, while 39 of Semien’s came at the second sack. The record actually playing second base is 42 by Johnson, 42 by Rogers Hornsby in 1922, 40 by Ryne Sandberg in 1990, 40 by Brian Dozier in 2016, and 39 by Alfonso Soriano in 2002. So Semien is tied for fifth.