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Marcus Semien 2023 Player Outlook: A Counting Stat Deity
The Rangers' highly-paid shortstop was a disaster in the first two months of 2022, slashing .199/.266/.274 with just one home run. He patched all of that up after the calendar turned to June, slashing .268/.319/.490 and hitting 25 homers in the 517 PAs that followed. When all was said and done, Semien put up another top-30 fantasy season with 26 homers, 25 steals, 101 runs, and 83 RBI. He's been a counting stat monster for a while now, doing a little bit of everything. The batting average came down last year, mostly because of that horribly slow start - there is a good chance for an improvement there in 2023 but being a pull-heavy fly ball hitter doesn't lend itself to a great batting average, so the expectation should be around .260 once again. Nobody has more plate appearances than Semien's 3,134 since 2018 - and he's got a great chance to hit lead-off 162 more times in 2023, which locks in a really useful fantasy season for him - especially with the improving lineup behind him. He is a top-40 pick in 2023, but it's hard to say he's not worth it while he projects for 20+ homers, 20+ steals, and 100+ runs.
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