Marcus Semien

Marcus Andrew Semien (born September 17, 1990) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. He previously played in the MLB for the Chicago White Sox.

Amateur career

Semien grew up pitching and playing infield in El Cerrito Youth Baseball, across the bay from San Francisco, and was a member of the area's All-Star teams. He went on to attend St. Mary's College High School in Berkeley, California. At St. Mary's, he hit .471 as a junior, .371 as a senior, and was named all-league three times where he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 34th round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He chose not to sign and instead chose to attend college at the University of California, Berkeley. After struggling as a freshman, Semien improved as a sophomore, hitting .328. As a junior, Semien was the starting shortstop for the team, but hit .275, hurting his stock for the MLB Draft.^[1][2]

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Semien was again drafted by the White Sox this time in the sixth round of the 2011 MLB Draft. He started his career in 2011 with the Class A Kannapolis Intimidators. He finished the 2011 season hitting .253 in 229 at-bats with, 15 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 3 HRs, 26 RBI and 3 SBs. Semien was moved up to Class A-Advanced Winston-Salem Dash for the 2012 season. There he hit .273 in 418 at-bats with 31 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 14 HRs, 59 RBI and 11 SBs. For the 2013 season, Semien was ranked the White Sox #8 prospect.^[3]

The White Sox selected Semien's contract from the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on September 3, 2013. He debuted against the New York Yankees on September 4, and recorded his first hit, a single, in his first at bat against CC Sabathia. He hit his first major league home run against J. A. Happ of the Toronto Blue Jays on September 23.^[4]

Oakland Athletics

After the 2014 season, the White Sox traded Semien, Chris Bassitt, Rangel Ravelo, and Josh Phegley to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Jeff Samardzija and Michael Ynoa.^[5] He began the season as the A's starting shortstop. Semien struggled defensively throughout the season, committing a major league worst 35 errors. He finished the season with a .257 AVG and 15 home runs. After the season, the A's hired Ron Washington to work with Semien's defense. Semien showed improvement the following season, committing only 21 errors and showing power at the plate, finishing second on the team in home runs with 27. On April 17, 2017, Semien was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a right wrist fracture, which also required surgery.^[6]

Personal life

Semien's father and mother also attended the University of California, Berkeley, where Semien's father, Damien, played football.^[7]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcus Semien.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)