Semien caps Oakland return with 4-hit outing

Marcus Semien taking over a game at the Oakland Coliseum is nothing new.

The longtime A’s star returned with the Blue Jays this week and capped off his homecoming with a four-hit outburst in Thursday’s 10-4 win, including his seventh home run of the year. Back in the leadoff spot with George Springer on the IL for a second time this season, Semien’s outing was exactly what the Blue Jays needed from one of their most experienced and accomplished hitters.

“I feel good. I’m able to not think about mechanics as much,” Semien said. “I just think about the approach and what I’m looking for. That’s a good place to be. That’s where a lot of players want to be all the time, but sometimes it’s not there. Playing in a stadium that I’m very familiar with -- the batter’s eye and the backdrop, the batter’s box -- it’s nice to come back.”

This makes life easier on manager Charlie Montoyo, too. As the Blue Jays moved through their transition year in 2019 and made the unexpected jump to a postseason contender in '20, their lineups have looked different on a near daily basis. Moving into this new phase of contention, though, some consistency is key. Having Semien performing in the leadoff spot is step one to that plan, at least as long as Springer is out.

“He’s a pro, man. This guy is a professional ball player who’s ready to play every day,” said Montoyo. “He’s one of those guys that, if he doesn’t play, he’s mad at me. I already know that going into it, and it’s my job to keep people fresh, but he’s that guy. He’s ready to play every day and he’s going to give you all he has.”

Semien’s big day at the plate also set the tone for the rest of the Blue Jays' lineup, which is finally taking a more balanced approach after leaning too heavily on individual performances in April.

Bo Bichette did a little bit of everything with three hits and a pair of stolen bases to build on a series in which he looked stronger defensively. Teoscar Hernández ripped a timely two-run single to go along with a pair of walks. Even Danny Jansen, who’s off to a slow start to the season offensively, launched his first home run of the year, a 423-foot shot to left field.

“That’s going to be important moving forward,” Semien said. “I think that hitting is contagious. When the whole lineup is struggling, you want to be that guy to get everybody going. That’s baseball, though. Some nights it’s there, some nights it’s not. Today was a good game for us to go into Houston.”

If there’s one hitter who deserves more credit than they’ve gotten through the first 30 games, though, it’s Randal Grichuk, who launched a three-run home run in the third inning and followed that up with a two-run double in the sixth.

Entering Spring Training, Grichuk was in an awkward spot. The Blue Jays had just signed Springer, and with Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. both fixtures in corner outfield spots, it looked like Grichuk would slide into something less than an everyday role. But with Springer’s injury and Grichuk’s performance to date, that hasn’t been the case. Now hitting .306, Grichuk has forced his bat into the lineup, period.

“He’s really been the glue guy to this lineup,” Semien said of Grichuk. “Nobody talks about him a lot, but his routine and his work is as consistent as anybody in the game that I’ve seen. He sticks to what he wants to do and then he brings it into the game. He does not try to hit home runs in BP. He knows that doesn’t work for him, so he hits the ball hard the other way in BP, and then in the game, it translates.”

Grichuk has looked very good in the field, too, where he’s seen time in both right and center field. This hot start goes against his usual trends, too.

For his career, Grichuk has been a slow starter, hitting .234 with a .727 OPS in the first half compared to a .262 average and .843 OPS in the second half. He appears to have cut out that ramp-up period, though, which is putting his hot start on track for the attention that it deserves.