Oakland Athletics’ Marcus Semien Impressing Early in Spring Training
Spring Training is in full swing for the Oakland Athletics, and they’ve beaten their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants, two days in a row to kick off the Cactus League season. Leading the charge for the new-look A’s has been Marcus Semien, one of the newcomers.
Semien, a San Francisco-native and former member of the University of California Golden Bears, was acquired in the offseason, and is the projected opening day shortstop for the team. He’s staking his claim to the position with a fast and furious start to Spring Training.
In the opener on Tuesday, Semien was batting second while playing shortstop. He dug in to the box in the first inning against Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner, and promptly took the All-Star lefty deep for a two-run home run. In the next inning, against prospect Brett Bochy, Semien singled in a run with two outs, pushing the Athletics lead to 3-0. He was caught stealing after the hit with Ben Zobrist batting.
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His next opportunity came in the fifth inning, and Semien left the park again, hitting a leadoff homer against prospect Cody Hall. He would be replaced by Andy Parrino at shortstop in the next frame, ending his day 3-for-3 with two dingers, and 4 RBI.
On Wednesday, in the second game of the back-to-back with the Giants, Semien found himself again at shortstop, this time hitting fifth. He picked up right where he left off the previous day, driving in two runs on a single against starter Jake Peavy in the first inning. In the third frame, Semien led off with a walk against one of the Giants’ top prospects, lefty Ty Blach. Three batters later, he scored on a single by catcher Bryan Anderson.
The next inning, Semien drove in another run, scoring Josh Reddick with a single. He was driven in again by Anderson on another single. Parrino would take his place again in the fifth inning, ending another stellar day for Semien.
Over the first two days, Semien came to the plate six times, and hit three singles, two home runs and walked once. He drove in seven runs, and scored four times himself.
This kind of performance has been in Semien all along, as he was a top prospect when he was in the Chicago White Sox organization. Before the 2013 season, he was the eighth-best prospect in the system. In that year, he made his big league debut when he was part of the September call ups, and played well in his audition. In his first taste of action, he played 21 games, and hit .261 with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI.
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Semien began 2014 back in the minor leagues, as Alexei Ramirez was firmly entrenched as the White Sox starting shortstop. He did find his way into 64 games for the big league squad, hitting .234 with 10 doubles, two triples, six home runs, and 28 RBI.
After the 2014 season, Semien was involved in the blockbuster trade involving Jeff Samardzija, as the Shark was sent to the White Sox, along with Michael Ynoa, in exchange for Semien, Chris Bassitt, Rangel Ravelo, and Josh Phegley.
After his great start, Semien is expected to get Thursday off. He probably needs to rest his legs after running around the bases so much following the long offseason.
It’s still so early in the Spring that not much stock can really put into those numbers. But after a start like that, it’s hard to not get excited. Semien’s bat is a promising sign for the Athletics.