The Texas Rangers enter the final stretch of the 2025 season clinging to slim postseason hopes, with Marcus Semien’s return emerging as a major storyline as Texas sits at 79-74 and holds just a 4.3% playoff chance, according to FanGraphs.
The veteran infielder, sidelined with a left foot injury, took live batting practice ahead of the Rangers' three-game home series against the Miami Marlins as he hopes to return to the field with the limited time left this season, Rangers beat writer Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reported.
Semien suffered the injury on August 21 against the Kansas City Royals when he fouled a ball off his foot. Initially, X-rays were inconclusive, but further tests revealed a fracture of the third metatarsal and a sprain of the Lisfranc ligament. The team placed him on the injured list on August 26, marking only the second time in his 13-year career that he has missed extended time due to injury. His last IL stint came in 2017 with Oakland.
Since the start of 2018, he has led Major League Baseball in games played (1,145) and plate appearances (5,139). With Texas, he has appeared in 609 of 616 games since 2022, second only to Atlanta’s Matt Olson in total starts. Even in a down offensive season, posting a .230 batting average, .305 OBP, .364 SLG, with 15 home runs, 62 RBI, and 62 runs scored over 470 at-bats, Semien’s defensive metrics have remained elite. He leads American League second basemen with six defensive runs saved and seven outs above average, while his .996 fielding percentage is tied for the best in MLB at his position.
Consistency has been hard to come by for Texas all year. The Rangers’ run differential (653 runs scored, 566 allowed) suggests they should be closer to an 86-67 record, but costly stretches sank their playoff push. After a 24-21 start in May, they dropped 14 of 19 games, falling as far as 11 games back in the division by early July. A late-season 16-4 run briefly put them back in the race, but injuries to core players, including Semien and Corey Seager, derailed momentum.
Seager, out since undergoing appendix surgery on August 28, has resumed light baseball activities but has yet to swing a bat. In his absence, along with Semien’s, the Rangers have relied on younger players to keep their season alive. However, the Houston Astros ran over the Rangers in a fateful three-game set, sweeping them, and now, with only nine games left, the Rangers face a season hanging by a thread, backs against the wall, down to their last gasp.
