A’s shortstop Marcus Semien offered an update Friday on how he was feeling following soreness in his left side that caused him to sit out the second game of a doubleheader against the Houston Astros on Saturday.
“We’ve been working on it these last three days, making progress, but the game one of the Houston doubleheader, didn’t feel great and then I tried to get ready for that second game and I just thought it would be smartest to not push,” Semien said on Friday. “I didn’t want to make it worse.”
An MRI Monday revealed Semien didn’t suffer any serious injury, but he wasn’t able to participate in baseball activity while the A’s were in quarantine following a positive coronavirus test from Daniel Mengden.
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“Didn’t do much baseball activity when we had to quarantine, but we tried to do as much treatment as we could during that time and just tried to build it back up here in Oakland,” Semien said.
Semien’s CT scan looked good as well, he added.
He arrived for his media availability prior to the team’s return to the field Friday against the San Diego Padres with a bat in his hand, saying he was doing tee and cage work. However, Semien didn't participate in batting practice prior to the series-opener.
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A’s GM David Forst said earlier in the week it’s an injury Semien has dealt with in the past, but the shortstop said this time, the pain was “more intense.”
“The strength wasn’t there in my cage work, and when we faced [Lance] McCullers, my last at-bat didn’t feel too hot, but I’m the type of guy that tries to grind through things,” Semien said.
He is.
Telling Semien, a guy who played in all 162 games during the A’s 2019 season with a league-leading 747 plate appearances, that he couldn’t play, couldn’t have been easy. He admitted as he’s gotten older, he’s understood that there’s a time where it’s OK to sit out.
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“I’m going to prepare like I’m available off the bench to do whatever they ask me for,” Semien added.
Vimael Machin will get the start at shortstop Friday with Matt Chapman, who slid over to shortstop filling in for Semien when he sat out, remaining at third base.