Although his overall numbers are hardly impressive, Marcus Semien had a solid 2020 campaign if we ignore the first two weeks of the season.
It is easy to regard the 2020 campaign as a disappointment for Marcus Semien. After producing at an MVP caliber level in 2019, Semien fell back to below his previous levels. His 91 OPS+ was his worst mark in any season where he had at least 25 appearances over the course of the year, while his slugging percentage was his worst since 2014.
But Semien’s numbers are skewed by a horrific first two weeks of the season. He came out of the gates ice cold with the lumber, producing a .190/.215/.238 batting line in his first 65 plate appearances. He had just one double and one triple in that time, drawing two walks and striking out 20 times.
Everything changed after that 14th game. Semien started to heat back up, looking closer to the player that the A’s had hoped for. He produced a .236/.339/.432 batting line in his final 171 plate appearances, hitting seven homers and eight doubles, drawing 23 walks with 30 strikeouts.
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Although those numbers may not jump off the page, they are relatively in line with his career totals. His .772 OPS over those 171 plate appearances is 25 points higher than his career mark, even if his batting average is lower. Semien, at least for those final 39 games, hit at a better than average clip.
It is that final run that Semien’s representatives will point to. While he may not have been the same player he was during his breakout 2019 campaign, he did have a solid final three quarters of the season. He may well have unlocked his offensive potential, ready to become the type of hitter the A’s envisioned.
That is the question teams will have to answer in free agency. Any player can have a year where, for whatever reason, everything comes together. Semien’s track record as a whole makes his 2019 campaign appear to be a major outlier, but that performance to end 2020 gives hope that he can be more.
Marcus Semien had a better 2020 season than it would have appeared at first glance. His slow start to the year dramatically skewed his numbers.