Major League Baseball

A's Semien eager to 'figure this thing out' regarding defensive miscues

Published May. 14, 2015 12:37 p.m. ET

foxsports

In Marcus Semien, the Oakland A's have one of the more productive offensive shortstops in the league. So far in 2015, Semien is slashing .307/.353/.521 with six home runs, 15 RBIs and 43 hits spread across 36 games.

That'd put him in strong consideration among top shortstops in the league - were it not for his defensive difficulties.

After making five errors in his past five games, Semien now leads all major leaguers with 11 so far in 2015. That's problematic, obviously, and it's an area Semien told the media he's eager to remedy:

Discussing Semien's thoughts about trusting his skills, A's infield coach and former major leaguer Mike Gallego agrees (as he told CSN Bay Area):

“You can talk about mechanics, but at this point in the game you gotta let it flow and not think about mechanics,” Gallego said. “Trust your ability and don’t let the errors linger in the back of your mind. It’s easier said than done. But we’re gonna find out what type of a player he really is. If I’m a bettin’ man, I keep running Marcus Semien out there.”

Through about five weeks of the season, the A's have to be impressed with the offense provided by their new shortstop - but the other side of his game is still in development.

(h/t CSN Bay Area)