Oakland Athletics: Marcus Semien Fulfilling Offensive Potential

Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien is having quite a year offensively. The former Chicago White Sox prospect is coming into his own at the plate, as he’s now a key part of Oakland’s offense.

Oakland Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien may not get a ton of attention nationally, but he’s having his best offensive season of his young career, and his defense has steadied as well after a tough 2015 season.

At first glance, Semien’s stat line may not jump off the page. Entering Friday he was hitting .245/.309/.471. But Semien quite simply continues to produce in an A’s lineup that, on the surface, features power hitters such as Khris Davis, Danny Valencia, and Josh Reddick.

However, on Friday night, Semien hit his 17th home run of the season, which at this juncture leads all shortstops. As it pertains to the A’s, Semien is second on the team in home runs, trailing only Khris Davis, who has 19 to Semien’s 17.

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With another two RBI’s on Friday, Semien raised his total to 43 on the season. To put into perspective the kind of year he’s having on a personal level, Semien had 45 RBI’s in155 games last year. In 2016 thus far, he has 43 RBI’s in 80 games, closing in on his 2015 total. With 17 home runs, Semien has also passed his previous season-high of 15 last year.

Semien may not look like a prototypical power hitter, and he doesn’t hit in a slugging spot in the lineup — often hitting in the No. 2 hole — but he’s able to produce. Semien swings with a rather short stroke compared to other power hitters, and uses a two-handed follow through, as opposed to the more adopted one-handed follow through. But to put it simply, it works for him. Semien’s swing is compact, so he’s able to get his hands to the ball quickly, and he swings with plenty of torque that allows him to generate power.

While Semien’s average may not seem ideal, he’s proven that the number isn’t indicative of the kind of contributor he is. Semien’s slugging percentage and OPS are both career highs at this point in time.

As you can see here, via FanGraphs, during the 2015 season Semien’s slugging percentage was on par with the MLB average, just a shade over .400. However, since that time, it has risen to nearly .480. Semien finished the 2015 season with a slugging percentage of .405, compared to a current slugging percentage of .471.

Interestingly, Semien’s BABIP is down from last year, at .260 compared to .312 last year, but it also corresponds with his average being down slightly as well. Once again, though, Semien’s value to the A’s isn’t solely in his batting average. Khris Davis is having a nice year offensively, (and is more of a known power hitter) and the fact that Semien is practically keeping pace with him on this A’s team should speak volumes.

While Semien is becoming a key contributor offensively, his defense has also improved greatly. Last year, Semien committed the most fielding errors in all of baseball, with 35. However, with the 2016 season just about at the half-way point, Semien has just 8 errors so far this season. Semien works feverishly on his fielding craft each and every day with Ron Washington during pre-game, and it’s clear his work is paying off.

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For the Oakland Athletics, Marcus Semien has burst onto the scene this season. Across the board, he’s in the process of what may turn out to be the best year of his young career, and in some ways it already is. For Semien, a sign of recognition could come by way of a selection to the AL All Star team. Oakland’s shortstop is certainly making his case.