PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Early Friday morning on the half field behind Clover Park, new Mets third base coach Tim Leiper played an impromptu game with new Mets second baseman Marcus Semien. When the prescribed number of groundballs were over, Leiper whacked a few extras right at Semien, one after another, moving a few steps closer to the veteran each time.
Semien fielded each one until Leiper blinked, mishitting a soft line drive that Semien caught before gleefully jump-shooting it toward the bucket like a rookie whose legs did not yet know the weight of a full MLB season. But Semien, of course, knows that grind better than anyone in the Mets clubhouse this spring. And he sees no need for workload management.
“My mindset has always been, every day you can do something special. No matter how your body is feeling, and that’s the beauty of our sport. There are plenty of ways to impact the game,” Semien said. “There are so many different ways you can be feeling on a given day, but you still have to get in the box and compete. There are days where you don’t feel your best and you can still have one of your best games.”
Since Semien became a full-time major leaguer with the then-Oakland Athletics in 2015, only five players have played in more games. In the five seasons since he turned 30, he has played fewer than 159 games just once.
In 2023, as a member of the Texas Rangers, Semien played all 162 regular games then started every one of the Rangers postseason games, eventually setting the record for most plate appearances ever taken in a single MLB season (835). After the Rangers clinched a title with a win in Game 5 of the World Series, a champagne-soaked Semien said he was not even tired.
The 35-year-old can make a credible argument that he should still be on the field as much as possible. For example, he won his Gold Glove at second base last year and tied for fourth among all second basemen with seven outs above average, a metric that offers insight into a player’s range. His average sprint speed in 2025 (28.5 feet per second, according to Baseball Savant) is slightly better than it was in his late 20s.
The counterpoint to his optimism is his offense, where bat speed often wanes as the years accumulate: After winning his third Silver Slugger with an .826 OPS in that championship 2023 season, Semien’s OPS dropped below .700 in the two years since, well below his career mark of .756. Since that World Series season, Semien’s bat speed has ranked in the league’s lowest 10 percent. Then again, it was among the league’s worst in that 2023 season -- in which he finished third in American League MVP voting -- too.
“I have not looked into [bat speed] much. I’m sure there are people who will look at that,” said Semien, who added that as long as he feels he can pull pitches in the air when pitchers give him the chance, he should be able to produce the way he expects.
Though he pulled the ball in the air less frequently the past two seasons than he did at his best, he still ranks above average in his ability to do so.
“He wants to play,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, when asked if the Mets are considering limiting Semien’s workload somewhat to keep him fresher. “He takes pride in being available, posting, being in the lineup. We will have to watch him closely. Continue to have constant communication. I will check like I always do with them once we get going and playing every day. But being available is super important for him and us as a team. But again, we just have to be mindful and manage the workload there.”
The Mets have the personnel to spell Semien if they want. Brett Baty worked at second base in 2024, and the Mets will be looking for places to get him at-bats this season now that Bo Bichette is locked in at third base. Ronny Mauricio could play there when he is done filling in for Francisco Lindor at shortstop. But early in camp, Semien has been alone most days at second base, building rapport with new first baseman Jorge Polanco on the right side and chatting regularly with Lindor during drills.
“If you look at all the years in my career, there have been a couple 162s, but those are the best years of my career. I just kept going. One of those years was a World Series,” Semien said. “That’s always going to be my mindset. I’ll leave it up to other people to let me know.”
