AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RANGERS VS ASTROS

October 21, 2023

Marcus Semien

Minute Maid Park

Texas Rangers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Nathan Eovaldi, the guy that's been pitching looks like an All-Star. How good is it to have him on the mound in a must-win game?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Yeah, I mean, talk about Montgomery being our ace right now. I think we have two. I think what Evo has done not only this year but in his career in the biggest moments has given us all the confidence in the world in him. The way the stuff has been playing with the velocity and just the way he mixes up everything, it makes it so tough on a hitter.

I've been that hitter facing him plenty of times where you don't know what to hone in on because he's got so many weapons. We're hoping for that guy tomorrow and we also want to put out runs. So we're happy to have him on the mound.

Q. The emotions obviously of last night end game and then obviously of not winning a game you wanted to win at home. Talk about getting past that and moving on and knowing you have two games to get to the World Series?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Yeah, just reminds me of how this entire season has gone for us. Certain expectations of what our roster may look like. And now what it looks like they are different. Talk about losing deGrom and just certain injuries that we had in the beginning of the year and now where we are, definitely a different team.

In terms of the way we've gone on streaks and had cold streaks, and just certain games we thought we had won that we didn't win, we've been through it. We win two games in the beginning of the series. You get home, you have high expectations to at least pick up one or two. Didn't happen. But that's how this season has gone. So we're excited for the challenge here.

Q. How noisy is the Astros dugout? A couple of your teammates say they like to talk a lot, try to get under the other team's skin. Are they worse than other teams or better at other teams in doing that?

MARCUS SEMIEN: I haven't heard them at all. I know I'm on the right side of the infield. I haven't heard anything. But it's part of the game. We're all excited to compete. When our team does something well we're not going to be silent. I'm sure it's the same over there. But I haven't heard much.

Q. You played in 172 games this year. You've played in a lot of games in your career, but these extra playoff games are you feeling the toll of that physically, at all?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Everybody should right now, but the extra adrenaline from the crowd is what always boosts us. We play the most games in all of sports. All the sports you watch, everybody talks about baseball and how do you play 162 games? Well, that's what we do. And that's why we -- that's why we show up every day is to continue to get better, no matter how our body feels, and we'll use the crowd energy and any adrenaline we can get to perform at our best.

Q. Have you identified anything you're trying to tweak at the plate right now, or would you chalk up this whole slump to the ebbs and flows of baseball?

MARCUS SEMIEN: This year I've definitely had slumps where certain drills in the cage can get you right. I've continued to work on that. Definitely want to build up the last at-bat I had, hard hit ball. That's all you can really do. Putting the ball in play with not great quality contact right now. So once I get in the cage it's all about hitting the ball hard, getting pitches to hit like I always do, and see where we're at tomorrow.

Q. Do you feel like the Astros -- do you feel like the Astros have done a great job on you in terms of pitching to you away and not letting you be able to get the ball in the air the way you're able to do typically?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Yeah, I mean I've definitely been getting in the air, just way too high. But that's what Houston does a good job of, that's why they're in this position, because they stick to the game plan. Every team has a game plan to get us out. It's all about executing. For us it's all about making the adjustments. The adjustments that I make tend to be ones that help me see the ball well. And it's about getting in the cage and understanding what they're doing and how do I hit these pitches hard and that's what I'm going to work on.

Q. (Off microphone.) How did you approach today as a team and what is this feeling like? What are you guys going through, can you take us through the emotions?

MARCUS SEMIEN: Yeah, I mean a day off in the playoffs is still a work day. So everybody wants to make sure their bodies are right. And fine tune our skills today at practice. And we travel on to Houston and get some good rest, and that's what it's all about.

I try to keep things as simple as possible, when bouncing back from a tough series or tough loss. In this case three games that didn't go our way. But what we have to understand is that we had the game under control until one swing happened. So how could we figure out how to continue to control the ballgame and figure out how to finish.