The Texas Rangers enter Friday's action under .500, and their offense is a big reason why. Despite being tied for 11th in the majors in home runs, the Rangers rank 27th in runs scored and OPS. They fired their hitting coach earlier this season, but not much has changed since. With that in mind, Bruce Bochy has shaken up the lineup completely to try and get this team going.
Yes, you read that right. Adolis Garcia is hitting eighth, and Marcus Semien is behind him in the No. 9 hole. Bochy is going as far as moving All-Stars to the very bottom of the lineup to try and provide a spark, and frankly, it's tough to blame him.
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Bruce Bochy takes drastic steps with All-Stars to wake up struggling offense
Garcia hit 39 home runs, received AL MVP votes, and was the ALCS MVP while leading the Rangers to a World Series win just two seasons ago. He had a down year in 2024, but still hit 25 home runs. This season, though, he's slashing .215/.267/.373 with six home runs and 24 RBI in 50 games. The result of his struggles has him batting eighth for the first time in a game he started since April of 2021. That was his first full season in the majors.
As crazy as it is to see a hitter as established as Garcia hit this low in the order, he did hit seven in Texas's last game, so bumping him down one spot isn't the biggest deal in the world. Semien hitting ninth, though, is shocking.
Semien hit ninth early in his career, but he hasn't done it since 2017. He has almost exclusively hit at or near the top of his team's lineups ever since, but he's playing the worst baseball of his career, leading Bochy to make this change.
Semien is slashing .180/.217/.306 with three home runs and 17 RBI in 50 games played. Among 164 qualified position players, Semien ranks 161st with a 49 WRC+ and tied for 143rd with -0.2 fWAR. Objectively, he's been one of the worst position players in the game, so bumping him down had to be done. Semien began the year as the leadoff hitter, was moved down to the No. 5 spot, and is now hitting last.
Will this be what wakes the Rangers up? That's hard to say. Ultimately, it's on the players to perform. Perhaps getting Garcia and Semien out of high-pressure spots in the order will be what gets them going. Bochy trying to tinker with the lineup instead of sticking with what doesn't work like so many other managers do, though, deserves to be praised. Hopefully, the tinkering pays off.