MESA, Ariz. - Marcus Semien provides the A's a luxury as a shortstop with great home run power.
With that, an annual question surfaces:
Where is the best spot to hit him in the batting order?
Semien led American League shortstops, and finished second on the A's, with 27 homers last season, yet he spent the majority of his time hitting seventh or ninth. Given Oakland finished last in the American League in runs last season, would it make sense to move him up higher?
The early indications are that manager Bob Melvin will keep Semien hitting in the bottom third of the order, even though Semien has bounced around in exhibitions so far.
"He and I were talking about that yesterday," Melvin said Wednesday morning. "I hit him third yesterday. I'll have him hit second, I think, tomorrow. But boy, it's a nice little security blanket (hitting him down in the order). And it seems to be that the ‘7' spot is where (he hits with) some guys on base. It's nice to have a guy down in the lineup that is that productive."
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Expect Melvin to continue experimenting with different batting-order combos throughout spring training before honing in on a more steady look as late March rolls around. And where he bats Semien will be based, partly, on how Semien's teammates are performing offensively.
The A's signed Rajai Davis to be a speedy table-setter from the leadoff spot. They added Matt Joyce and Trevor Plouffe to add some punch through the middle of the lineup. If those three, plus cleanup man Khris Davis, Stephen Vogt, Jed Lowrie and Ryon Healy are producing, it makes more sense to save Semien as a lower-lineup headache for opposing pitchers to deal with. The shortstop's nine home runs from the No. 9 spot tied for the major league lead in 2016.
And keep in mind, Semien is likely to bat higher against left-handers. He's a .288 career hitter with a .493 slugging percentage against lefties, compared to .229 and .380 against right-handers. Last season, he made 24 starts in the No. 2 spot.
But where he hits has no bearing on his approach, Semien said.
"I don't want to try and change what I do based on where I am in the lineup necessarily. I want to become a better hitter no matter what spot I'm in. There was power production from the ‘9' hole (last season). I hit second a lot against lefties. Either way, whatever is the best chance to win with that lineup that day is what we've gotta do."
