AL DIVISION SERIES: RANGERS VS ORIOLES

October 6, 2023

Marcus Semien

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Texas Rangers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. What have you seen from Evan Carter in his approach at the plate and what he's brought to this will team in the short time he's been there?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Well, it's been very mature approach at the plate for such a young hitter. I remember when I was his age, still in the Minor Leagues, I was still trying to figure things out. A lot more swing and miss. I think he's learned a lot from what we talk about in Spring Training as a group. How he's implemented it, I think he has qualities that we want here. For him to be hitting in the 9 hole in front of me, it's nice when he's on base. So it's time for me to get hot.

Q. When you and Corey signed, could you envision that in your mind?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Yeah, our goal last year was to be here. Obviously we needed a lot of pieces. CY and ownership went out and got the pieces we needed. Our lineup has matured and experience has helped us get better. Corey and I have understood where we're at in Texas and what our routine is. We're just like clockwork now as a lineup.

I think the pitching is coming into its own, the back end of the bullpen and the starters staying healthy, we've been doing really well.

Q. What stands out to about this Orioles teams.

MARCUS SEMIEN: It's a team we haven't seen since earlier in the year. I think last season they handled us pretty well. The young players are extremely talented. You talk about a young leader in Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson stepping up this year. They have already have guys like Santander and Mountcastle who have been here and Hays also. I played against those guys going back to 2021 with the Blue Jays and just seeing how far they've come.

It's definitely impressive, but I saw it coming. I knew their front office is really smart and getting the right players and coming up with the right pitchers, and it's going to be a battle.

Q. How important has Jordan Montgomery been to this team, and what makes him so helpful?

MARCUS SEMIEN: He's tough. He's a guy I faced in the past, and it's tough to pick the ball up against him. He's a large left-handed pitcher who you can't see the ball well off of. 6-6 straight over the top with a ton of different weapons, if he's throwing strikes with his fastball. You already can't see it well. That makes those other pitches play that much better.

Q. The Orioles have two young starting pitchers you're going to be facing, what stands out to you about those two guys?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Those guys have really good stuff. They go about it two different ways. Bradish with the quick windup, a lot of movement. Rodriguez with the four-seam fastball, good change-up. So we'll go back and look at everything they've done recently. Sure, the way they attacked us earlier in the year is maybe a little different than what they're doing now, because over time pitchers improve and learn some things over the years. So obviously what they've been doing has been working, and we need to look at what they've been doing and seeing how we're going to attack.

Q. You've seen Josh and Evan debut in consecutive seasons. What is it about the way they prepare and have been prepared that let them get their feet down and flourish right away?

MARCUS SEMIEN: I think they go about it two different ways. Josh Jung came up last year and struggled a little bit. A lot more swing and miss. And he showed up at Spring Training very hungry. His work ethic is top notch.

I think I'm still learning about Evan. What I've learned from him is he's very calm in the big moment, and that's very rare.

Q. What do you make of the notion of rest versus rust? You guys have had a series under your belt and would you have rather had the time off?

MARCUS SEMIEN: I think we just got two days off. Today still counts as a day off. We get to sharpen up a little bit. I played every single game this year. Any day off, yesterday, today, those are helpful for us. I think us playing good baseball in Tampa is better than not playing baseball. Tomorrow we'll see where both teams are at. We both want to play our best baseball. Once Major League teams get going, it doesn't matter.

Q. This has become essentially your longest road trip of the season. This is day 12 being away from Arlington. Has that presented any particular challenges?

MARCUS SEMIEN: You know, at this point, playoff baseball, we just -- we're ready for whoever we're playing. I think the road we had to take to get here -- of course, we would have wanted to win the division, be home, be with our families. But a lot of families travel here. I think that makes players comfortable to be around the loved ones. I'm not able to, but I'm looking forward to getting back home on Sunday.

Q. What have you learned about with Garcia, and what does it mean to you?

MARCUS SEMIEN: He's a five-tool player. I think obviously if he gets his batting average up to 280s or 300, we're talking about legitimate five-tool guy. He's a leader for our Latin players. He's just one of the most talented players a lot of us have ever seen. Talk about how big and strong he is, but how athletic and agile he is also. He's got a great arm, he's power, he's clutch. And he definitely plays a good right field out there. When we lost him earlier this season, it was definitely a big loss for us.

Q. What makes this team tick?

MARCUS SEMIEN: You know, at this point, winning is everything to us. We've shown that we can go on hot streaks, eight in a row, nine in a row. Winning is contagious. We have players who have won World Series who know the feeling. I'm seeing playoff Corey Seager versus regular and regular was sn MVP candidate. But seeing the way he's going about his business in the playoffs versus the regular season, it's a step above.

So everybody is hungry and ready to win, and that's what keeps us going.

Q. Is there anything in particular that brought you guys together to the level that you are now over the course of the season? You saw what that team was like last year, you've been here for both of these seasons, anything in particular that really meshed the group?

MARCUS SEMIEN: I don't know. I think at the end of the day it's been a roller coaster of a season. We think how well we started, how the injuries have gone. How the end of the year went. What everybody expected out of us, is to win the AL West, and it didn't happen. And what we just did in Tampa, I think nobody expected us to come out there and handle Tampa the way we did. It shows that in playoff baseball, the team playing the cleanest baseball usually wins. That's always a goal of ours, play clean defense, thrown strikes, have good at-bats, don't chase when you're up there. Those things usually put us in the best position to win.

Q. It's only been two days, what's the difference between regular season Corey Seager and playoff Corey Seager?

MARCUS SEMIEN: I just see a different bounce in his step, obviously. I'm a shortstop. I pay attention to what all the shortstops are doing. You see a little more bounce in the step. And he already has a good step. It's just a little different.

Obviously he's been hitting the entire year. He's going to hit. He had maybe a slow last week of the season, we show up in Tampa and he's back locked in with four big hits for us. And that's what I've watched over the years, you know. As the Dodgers went further and further every year was Corey Seager leading that team.

Q. What makes this team collectively as a unit as good defensively as you guys have been, other than individuals as good defensive players?

MARCUS SEMIEN: A lot of it comes down to now with the new rules where we can't shift. Be in the right spots, that's step 1. For the most part we're an athletic group. Our outfield is definitely athletic. And fielding ground balls and turning ground balls into outs is going to win you a lot of games.

When you see for instance what Atlanta did in 2021, that was defense. Our lineup has carried us the entire year, but pitching and defense is going to really help.

Q. Adley earlier this afternoon was asked about his first playoff experience. He says he expects to get that first pitch under his belt and then it will be business as usual. As somebody who's been there before, does that mesh with your experience, do his butterflies go away?

MARCUS SEMIEN: I think they're going to be there no matter what. Anytime you play in front of 40 thousand plus, every pitch, every fan is invested in every pitch. It's a little different from the regular season. We had a chance to play in front of that atmosphere in Seattle right before our Wild Card series and guys felt it.

I've always loved playing in the playoffs. It actually is kind of calming for me to hear more noise and just more chaos. And I think that comes with age. I know they have a lot of guys who have not played in the playoffs yet, so we'll see how they come out.