Oakland A’s Marcus Semien: Is he undervalued heading into 2018?

After missing two months of 2017, Marcus Semien had an underwhelming season for the Oakland A’s. Yet, is the slugger being undervalued?

The MLB season is right around the corner, and fantasy drafts are happening left and right. But, there are still those fantasy players that need to be valued and uncovered. Oakland’s, Marcus Semien, may get lost in the shuffle, yet he only two years removed from posting a 27 HR/75 RBI/10 SB/.735 OPS line.

Last season, a wrist injury derailed his year, and he could only muster 85 games. He ended with a .249/10 HR/40 RBI/12 SB/.722 OPS line.

In terms of the bad, fantasy owners know that Semien will not post a solid AVG. He has continually struck out 22% of the time, and as a 27-year-old, he is not going to change into a contact hitter overnight.

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The areas where he excels are in the XBH categories. Even though he only had 342 at-bats, he notched 30 XBH. He posted 21% LD, 38% GB, 42% FB, 53% Med, and 30% Hard contact rates.

He squared the ball up routinely and often in his abbreviated season, all the more encouraging and reassuring that the power is still there and legit.

Another area of intrigue was that he stole 12 bases as well. Prior to last season, 11 SB were his career high, so Semien was well on his way to steal 20+ bases. Combine that with the A’s looking to bat him leadoff, and all of a sudden a 25 HR/20 SB type of season is on the table.

Oakland has a deceptively deep lineup. With Semien batting leadoff, even though he may not be the prototypical leadoff option, the counting stat potential is there as well. Owners looking for any further signs of hope, Semien has easily been the best Oakland hitter this spring.  He has 17 hits over 18 games and boats the best AVG on the team.

Semien is currently being drafted around the 250 overall player, and 17 at the position. There are not going to be any players at the point of the draft that could possibly offer 20/20 production and bat leadoff.

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For nothing more than a late round MI or UTIL flier, do not let Marcus Semien fall by the wayside. There is tremendous fantasy value to be had for the price of peanuts.