The rise of A's star Marcus Semien has been well documented, and it was further highlighted Saturday when MLB Network released their list of the 10 best shortstops in the game.
Afer being unranked ahead of the 2019 season, Semien comes in at No. 4 just weeks before spring training starts. He is behind just Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies, Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians and Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs.
Semien is ranked as the second-best shortstop in the AL, behind only Lindor, who MLB Network had as the best in the game at his position prior to last season.
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Semien, who turned 29 years old last September, burst on the scene last season with career highs across the board. He played all 162 games, hit .285 with an .892 OPS and 33 home runs while even stealing 10 bases. The Cal product finished third in AL MVP voting.
For the second straight season, Semien took quite the leap defensively as well. He committed a career-low 12 errors, and had a 1.5 dWAR, according to Baseball-Reference. Semien also was worth five Defensive Runs Saved, according to FanGraphs and a career-best 11 rPM (Plus/Minus Runs Saved runs above average).
When it comes to comparing Semien to Story, Lindor and Baez, Semien actually had the highest WAR of the group, according to Baseball-Reference. Semien's 8.1 bWAR, was the fourth-highest in all of the majors. Story was worth 6.1, Baez 4.8 and Lindor 4.7.
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Oakland Athletics
There are a handful of stars who play shortstop right now, and it's impossible not to mention Semien among the game's best.
Numbers don't lie. The Bay Area native, simply put, is a star and could become even better at the start of the decade.