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Oakland A’s may not have Marcus Semien on Friday

By David Hill

OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 20: Marcus Semien #10 of the Oakland Athletics bats during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at RingCentral Coliseum on August 20, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Diamondbacks 5-1. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 20: Marcus Semien #10 of the Oakland Athletics bats during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at RingCentral Coliseum on August 20, 2020 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Diamondbacks 5-1. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /
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When the Oakland A’s season begins once again, a familiar face may be missing from the lineup as Marcus Semien may not play on Friday.

On Friday, the Oakland A’s COVID related hiatus will come to an end. They have not had any further positive tests since Saturday, and have the green light to continue their schedule. Four doubleheaders have been added, but the A’s will be on the diamond soon.

However, they may be missing one of their key pieces. Marcus Semien is not expected to play, as he is still dealing with soreness in his left side.

In theory, this would mean that either Chad Pinder or Vimael Machin would get the start at short if Semien is unable to play. However, Matt Chapman played short when Semien was out of the lineup in Saturday’s doubleheader, with Machin playing at third.

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Semien had been in the midst of his worst season since his 21 game stint as a rookie in 2013. In his 151 plate appearances, he had posted a .229/.285/.379 batting line, hitting five homers and four doubles while stealing three bases. Semien has also seen his walk and strikeout rates trend in the wrong direction, as his 7.3% walk rate and 21.9% strikeout rate are his worst since 2015 and 2017 respectively.

This season is all the more disappointing considering how he performed last year. Semien finally had that breakout year, producing an excellent .285/.369/.522 batting line in his 747 plate appearances, hitting 43 doubles and 33 homers.

The A’s have been optimistic that Semien will not miss much time due to his injury. And hopefully, with this time off, he will be able to clear his head and get closer to being the player he had been in 2019.

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The Oakland A’s do not expect to have Marcus Semien in the lineup on Friday. Hopefully, he will be back soon.