HOUSTON — Swinging on 3-0 counts: The Rangers made some history on Tuesday, and in doing so, revealed how the game is evolving.
First, the history. Second baseman Marcus Semien is the first hitter in the pitch tracking era (since 1988) to lead off a game with a home run on a 3-0 pitch.
Once upon a time, hitters almost never swung the bat on 3-0 counts. But this season, the Rangers have homered four times on 3-0 pitches.
“If you’re disciplined, it’s the easiest pitch in the world to swing at,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “If you’re not disciplined, that’s when you run into trouble. It’s the one pitch that you have completely in your favor.
“When I got into coaching, I started digging in and looking at some spray charts. Why are we taking that pitch? That’s the most heavily populated down the middle.”
Semien added: “Hitters counts aren’t what they used to be. I had a good idea a fastball was coming. And maybe it’d be the only fastball in the zone. So I took advantage of it.”
The Rangers lead the majors with four home runs on 3-0 counts, according to research by Sarah Langs of MLB.com https://atmlb.com/3bN03OL The Reds are next with three, and the Braves, Phillies, Guardians, Orioles and Blue Jays have two apiece.
Semien settles in
Semien did not homer in his first 43 games as a Ranger as he adjusted to life with a new team. He has 17 in 50 games since, including a bases-empty shot in the ninth inning Thursday.
“You need to figure out a routine that works for you in a new place,” he said. “Yes, the offseason was different, the lockout, this and that. But I had to get back to what I do well and get good at that every day. Instead of me changing something every day because I’m struggling, I just had to get comfortable with my swing. And that’s what I did.
“It just takes time. I know I have a good swing. It’s a matter of preparing the right way and understanding what I need to look for and sticking to my strengths.”
Did the expectations that come with a big-ticket free agent contract (seven year, $175 million) impact him?
“I honestly just think about winning,” he said. “We’re not winning. And that’s how most guys in this room probably feel in terms of individual stats. If you’re playing winning baseball, you’re probably putting up the numbers you want to put up.
“For me, that means scoring runs. That’s usually what I focus on. A goal of mine has always been to score 100 runs because that means you’re getting on base a ton, you’re running the bases well, you’re hitting for power, you’re creating runs. In the beginning, I definitely was not doing that.”
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