ARLINGTON — The Rangers’ reigning “ironman,” second baseman Marcus Semien, was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left foot contusion Saturday — his first IL stint since 2017 — interrupting a remarkable span of durability in which he started an astonishing 98.5 percent of his teams’ games over eight seasons.
Semien was hurt when he fouled a ball off the top of his foot on Thursday in Kansas City. Since the beginning of 2018, Semien leads the Majors with 1,145 games played and 5,139 plate appearances. No one else is within 200 plate appearances of Semien during that time.
“It’s amazing what he can do through some pain and injuries, but with this thing, he can’t hardly walk,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “So I’m hoping it’s not gonna be too long, but it looks like it could be a little while — obviously at least 10 days.”
The full extent of Semien’s injury isn’t yet known despite multiple imaging tests.
“We’re going to figure out how to test this thing and see how long it takes,” Semien said before the Rangers took on the Guardians on Saturday at Globe Life Field.
At this point, Semien doesn’t believe he’ll need surgery. He had an X-ray Thursday night after the game, then underwent MRI and CT scans on Friday. None of the scans were conclusive, so he’s seeing a foot specialist and getting another X-ray Sunday.
Regardless of the ultimate diagnosis, the Rangers will be without their most durable player for the near future.
Foot injuries are notorious for being difficult to diagnose and slow to heal, due to the sheer complexity of the foot’s anatomy. There are 26 bones, more than 100 ligaments and more than 100 tendons in the foot.
Meanwhile, the Rangers have to not only replace Semien’s bat in the lineup — he’s the linchpin of their infield. Semien is one of only four MLB second basemen to log at least 1,000 innings at the position, and his fielding run value (6) is second to the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner (10) among that small group.
“There’s not a better defensive second baseman,” Bochy said. “I mean, the runs that he saves at second, the plays he makes, you have to say he’s the glue to the infield. He’s out there every day. … [We’re] gonna miss all that — his presence, what he means to his team. It’s a tough loss.”
The Rangers suffered a rash of bodily harm on their last road trip, with five players being sent to the injured list. And two of them — Semien and center fielder Evan Carter, whose wrist was broken by an errant pitch — were “freak” injuries, as Bochy said, not the usual muscle strains and sprains that often necessitate IL trips.
“It’s incredible — I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Bochy, who has managed 4,486 MLB games. “I think I’ve had a year where I don’t know if we had five guys go on the IL.”
Semien was replaced on the active roster by Adolis García, who returned Saturday from a sprained ankle that put him on the 10-day IL. With 574 games played over the past four seasons, García is the second-most durable Ranger since Semien joined the team.
