Semien came through with a big day after dropping to fifth in the lineup for the first time as a Ranger amid his struggles. He plated a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, then drew a walk in the third and went yard for a three-run shot in the fifth. It was his second home run of the season. The 34-year-old second baseman is hitting .160/.231/.247 with six runs scored and ten RBI across 91 plate appearances.

This qualifies as a significant shakeup. Semien, who is hitting .141 (11-for-78) with two extra-base hits through 21 games this season, is batting lower than third for the first time since signing with the Rangers back in 2022. Meanwhile, Corey Seager isn’t hitting second for the first time in Bruce Bochy’s tenure at the helm. He’s been moved to the third spot. Texas has scored the fewest runs in baseball to this point in the year so they’re going to try a different approach to see if it helps wake up their talented core. It’ll be Josh Smith leading off and Wyatt Langford batting second on Tuesday night at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park in Sacramento.

It appears to be a routine off day for Semien, who has started 15 consecutive games to open the regular season, and is hitting .123 with one homer and zero steals so far. It’ll be Joc Pederson, who is batting .077 (3-for-39) moving up to the leadoff spot. There’s no logical explanation here besides the Rangers trying something different in an effort to get Pederson going.

Manager Bruce Bochy said it’s a stomach bug and that Semien might also need Thursday off. Sam Haggerty is playing second base today.