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.

Boos rained down at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night as second baseman Marcus Semien struck out on a slider in the dirt with the bases loaded to end the Rangers’ threat against the Angels in the seventh inning. It was part of an 0-for-4 night for the second baseman in the Rangers' win.

It’s maybe understandable why fans would be frustrated with the production from Semien, whom Texas signed to a seven-year, $175 million deal this offseason. Even after picking up three hits in Wednesday's victory, Semien has a slash line of .173/.235/.223 with no home runs through 35 games this season.

Still, it's shocking for a player of his caliber to receive the sour energy of fans so early into his tenure.

It would be remiss not to point out that Semien has finished among the top three in American League MVP voting in two of the past three seasons and set the record for most home runs by a second baseman in a single season in 2021. He’s coming off a year in which he won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and was named to the All-Star team.

“He's struggling,” said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. “It is what it is. He's a baseball player. He's not the first guy in the world to struggle. And I get a little bit frustrated or annoyed about the people getting on him about it. Listen, I know he's got expectations. Great. We spent a lot of money, he should have those expectations.

“But he's not the first person in the world to struggle hitting. And I think it's a little bit unfair that in a month's time people are on him. As his manager, I fully support him. This guy's had a track record of success. He's had slow starts before. He's going to figure it out. We all support him. I don't care what people say about him.”

For what it’s worth, Woodward has a point. Semien has been slow to start in a few seasons since making his MLB debut in 2013. In ’21, when he finished third in MVP voting, he slashed .211/.290/.368 through 24 games in April before going on a hot streak over the next 10 games to bump the line up to .267/.333/.474.

Couple an occasionally slow starter with a new franchise, new hitting coaches and a shortened Spring Training, and it’s almost no shock that even a player of Semien’s caliber would struggle.

All of the underlying Statcast data backs up the counting stat struggles. His xBA, xSLG, xWOBA and average exit velocity are all in the bottom 10 percent of the league, but also well below his career averages. For that reason, Woodward still believes Semien could also go off at any time.

And Semien, for his part, is feeling good at the plate, but just has nothing to show for it.

Even so, the second baseman prefers not to talk about what may be hindering him at the plate right now, and whether he’s pressing to live up to that contract as part of the Rangers’ $500 million middle infield with Corey Seager.

“I really don't want to talk about anything else, about pressure, because I want to stay positive,” Semien said. “Me talking about my batting average and not getting hits is not going to help me do better tomorrow. Staying positive is what's going to help me do better tomorrow. So, that's my answer for you. That's always the way I'm going to look at it when I’m in slumps. I'm not going to talk about the negative stuff. I want to talk about what I can do and be positive and what I'm going to do to get out of it. This is a rough stretch for me, but I'm still going to keep the same thought.”

While it’s understandable for fans to be frustrated, it would also be reasonable to see why Semien may be trying just a little bit too hard to live up to the expectations. He isn’t just content to sit with his $175 million and sub-.200 batting average. He wants to help the Rangers win, and eventually become contenders in the American League.

He has all the intangibles that the Rangers front office and coaching staff crave in a franchise player -- the hard work, the clubhouse leadership, the pure grit and grind. And with all that, he’s determined to get out of the slump sooner rather than later.

“He’s trying to buy in,” Woodward said. “He signed here for a reason. He knows what we're about and he believes in it. He's had really good conversations with our hitting guys, and he's trying to find his way right now. Look, this game is so hard. But it'll happen. There'll be a game where everything clicks and he jumps on the fastball. He’ll get back to being Marcus Semien and we won't even have this conversation.

“But, in the meantime, he's just gotta ignore all the noise and stick with what we got in the clubhouse.”