When Marcus Semien was introduced to the New York media for the first time following his trade from the Rangers, the Mets hadn’t yet acquired their new third baseman, Bo Bichette.
Arriving in Port St. Lucie for his first day in spring training on Saturday afternoon, the veteran infielder finally had a chance to discuss reuniting with his former Toronto teammate.
“That’s a big pickup,” Semien said. “I got to play with Bo when he was a 23-year-old shortstop, so now he’s a little older, a little more seasoned, and he’s learning a new position -- I was in that position when I met him too, learning second base.
“Being in a new place and learning a new position can get uncomfortable at times, but because he’s such a pure hitter and a great hitter, that’s where I know he’s going to be one of the best hitters.”
Semien, Bichette, and Luis Robert Jr. are the big-name additions to this offense.
While losing some key sluggers like Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso certainly hurts, Semien feels that the new pieces mixing with the returning stars and young bats make for a strong lineup on both sides of the ball.
“It’s a loaded group,” he said. “We have a lot of All-Stars, guys who have played in big games; World Series champions, Silver Sluggers, all kinds of accolades up and down this lineup -- a good amount of speed, power, good defenders.
“I look at the whole package, the lineup is one thing, but everyone is playing both sides of the ball. If we all score as many runs as we can, that means we’re running the bases well, we’re getting on-base, we’re slugging, we’re doing those things -- if we can all do that together, we can win a lot of ballgames with our bats.”
Semien himself is coming off back-to-back down seasons at the plate, but the Mets believe he still has the MVP form he showed during the ’23 campaign.
The 35-year-old was in contact with New York’s staff all offseason, discussing his performance the last couple of years and adjustments he can make to help get back on track.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations,” he said. “And those conversations were good. I think I’ve been able to control the strike zone for the most part, but it’s about hitting the ball with more authority, and getting my body in the right position to do that more consistently.”