Playing in 98.5% of games! The league's most durable player, Semien, lands on the injured list for the first time in eight years.

Texas Rangers' current "Iron Man" second baseman Marcus Semien was placed on the 10-day injured list today due to a left foot contusion — marking his first time on the injured list since 2017 — ending his remarkable durability streak of starting 98.5% of his team's games over eight seasons.

Semien was hurt on Friday in Kansas City when a foul ball struck the top of his foot. Since early 2018, Semien leads the major leagues with 1,145 games played and 5,139 plate appearances. During this time, no other player has come within 200 plate appearances of him.

“He’s done it while playing through some pain and injuries, which is incredible, but this time he can barely walk,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “So I hope it won’t take too long, but it looks like it might be a while — obviously at least 10 days.”

Despite multiple imaging tests, the full extent of Semien’s injury remains unclear.

“Once we figure out how to evaluate this injury, we’ll see how long it will take to recover,” Semien said Saturday before the Rangers faced the Guardians at Globe Life Field.

At present, Semien believes surgery is unnecessary. After Friday’s game, he underwent X-rays, followed by an MRI and CT scan on Saturday. None of the scans provided a definitive result, so he will see a foot specialist tomorrow for another X-ray.

Regardless of the final diagnosis, the Rangers will lose their most durable player for the short term.

It’s well known that foot injuries are difficult to diagnose and heal slowly due to the foot’s highly complex anatomy. A single foot contains 26 bones, over 100 ligaments, and more than 100 tendons.

Meanwhile, the Rangers must not only replace Semien’s offensive contributions but also his role as a defensive cornerstone. Semien is one of only four players in the majors to have played at least 1,000 innings at second base, and his defensive runs saved (6) ranks second in that group only to the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner (10).

“There’s no better defensive second baseman than him,” Bochy said. “I mean, the runs he saves at second base, those spectacular plays he makes — you have to call him the glue of the infield. He’s out there every day... We’re going to lose all of that — his presence, what he means to his team. It’s a tough loss.”

The Rangers have faced a wave of injuries during their recent road trip, with five players placed on the injured list. Bochy described two of them — Semien and outfielder Evan Carter, whose wrist was broken by a wayward pitch — as “odd” injuries, unlike the usual muscle strains and sprains that typically lead to IL stints.

“It’s unbelievable — I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Bochy, who has managed 4,486 major league games. “I think I went a whole year without being sure if we even had five players on the injured list.”

Semien’s spot on the active roster has been filled by Adolis García, who just returned today from a 10-day injured list stint due to an ankle sprain. Over the past four seasons, García has appeared in 574 games, making him the Rangers’ second most durable player since Semien joined the team.