20/20 Boys: Marcus Semien, Corey Seager Join Rare Rangers Company
The Texas Rangers spent a half-billion dollars on second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager last offseason. On Tuesday, the pair join a short list of Rangers middle infielders to hit 20 home runs in the same season.
Semien’s solo blast in the first inning of the Rangers’ 7-6 loss to Colorado gave him 20 home runs for the season. With that, Semien joined Seager, who had 26 home runs entering the game, as the third combination of middle infielders in team history to have 20 or more home runs in a season.
The first combination to do it was shortstop Michael Young and second baseman Alfonso Soriano, who did it in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005. The other pair was shortstop Elvis Andrus and second baseman Rougned Odor in 2017.
Seager is sitting on a career-tying 26 home runs right now, so his next blast will set a personal mark. Seager hasn’t hit a home run since Aug. 13. He earned his third All-Star Game berth earlier this season and participated in the All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium, where he played before joining the Rangers.
Semien failed to hit a home run until he hit a grand slam at Oakland on May 28. Since then, Semien has put up some of the best numbers in baseball, including the second-most home runs in the AL since his grand slam.
There are another potential milestone for Semien, who is a stolen base shy of 20 for the season. If he did that, he would join Adolis García as a 20-20 player and they would become the second pair in franchise history to have 20-20 seasons in the same campaign. Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler did it in 2009, as both actually posted 30-30 campaigns that year.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.
