The Oakland Athletics will be without the services of Marcus Semien for a while. Jane Lee of MLB.com reported that Semien will undergo wrist surgery. She added that there’s no immediate timetable for when Semien may return to the field.
Semien has a fracture of the scaphoid bone. He'll be reevaluated in six weeks. No timetable for his return.
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) April 17, 2017
This wrist injury has been bothering Semien since before the season began. While 10 walks have helped contribute to a decent .370 OBP, the Oakland shortstop is hitting a minuscule .171 with an anemic .229 slugging percentage.
The interesting question to ask now is what, if anything, this means for Franklin Barreto. Barreto is the top A’s prospect and is off to a strong start in Triple-A, slashing .310/.375/.524 with two home runs in only 11 games. Chad Pinder was initially called up to replace Semien. But the longer Semien is sidelined, the more likely Oakland will be to give Barreto the call-up.