
It will be Higashioka and not Jonah Heim who gets the first start of the season behind the plate. This will likely be a close timehsare but given how good this Rangers lineup could be, it's worth monitoring how the team splits up this workload. The full Rangers lineup is: Marcus Semien 2B, Corey Seager DH, Wyatt Langford LF, Adolis Garcia RF, Jake Burger 1B, Josh Jung 3B, Kevin Pillar CF, Kyle Higashioka C, Josh Smith SS.
Ahmed smacked a leadoff single off of Robbie Ray in the fifth inning, swiped second base and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Marcus Semien. He then led off the seventh with a single and raced around to score the go-ahead run on Tucker Barnhart's RBI double. With his two-hit attack, the 34-year-old infielder is now hitting .333 (7-for-21) with three homers, eight RBI and a stolen base in Cactus League play. He's making a strong case for inclusion on the Rangers' Opening Day roster.
Semien (illness) will start at second base and bat leadoff in Thursday's Cactus League game against the Giants.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that Semien was scratched from Wednesday's Cactus League lineup versus the Reds due to "a little stomach virus," Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
Manager Bruce Bochy said it's a stomach bug and that Semien might also need Thursday off. Sam Haggerty is playing second base today.