Stealing thunder: Semien embracing aggression on basepaths
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This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Stolen bases may be a lost art league wide, but don’t try to tell the Texas Rangers that. And surely don't try to tell manager Chris Woodward, either.
If there’s one thing or person to look at that shows that the Rangers are keeping the art of the stolen base alive, it’s second baseman Marcus Semien.
Semien steals bases so frequently this season that you wouldn’t know just how out of the ordinary it is for the 10-year MLB vet. Despite having an above-average sprint speed (28.6 ft./sec. compared to the MLB average of 27 ft./sec.), he’s never been too aggressive and never had more than 15 steals in a season (2021).
That changed when he came to the Rangers. Entering Sunday, he’s already got 10 in 57 games. He’s second on the club in stolen bases, just behind speedster Eli White with 12.
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“For me, I just want to score runs,” Semien said. “If the opportunity is given to us where the pitcher’s time is slower or there's something that shows that we can run, we’re gonna run. I'm not gonna run into outs. I've always been on teams that hit for power, so you don't want to run into outs. But when the pitchers or catchers are giving you bases, you definitely want to take them. [First-base coach Corey Ragsdale] is doing a good job showing us when we can take bags. It’s those things we’ve been working on all year.”
Semien’s steal rate is indicative of the Rangers’ philosophy on the basepaths as a whole. Entering Sunday, Texas leads all of baseball with 51 stolen bases, six more than the Cardinals at No. 2 and 10 more than the Rays at No. 3.
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And yeah, that’s by design.
All of Woodward’s teams have had an aggressive approach on the basepaths. It’s something he preaches. But as Semien pointed out, it wasn’t something he was used to. Woodward gives all his players the freedom and autonomy to choose when to steal and when not to.