CHICAGO -- Two days after a disastrous night at third base, Marcus Semien got the start at shortstop for the Chicago White Sox on Thursday in the series finale against the Oakland Athletics.
Semien made three errors in a defeat Tuesday night, two of the fielding variety, and after sitting out Wednesday's game, he will have a chance to get that debacle out of his system.
"You're going to have to get him in there and move him around and with Alexei (Ramirez), you can give him a day off," manager Robin Ventura said. "He's going to be back in there and you're going to see how he plays. He's been all over the infield and you just want to make sure you get him in there."
Semien projects more as a second baseman, but his chance at third Tuesday and his game at shortstop Thursday is a clear sign the White Sox could be looking at him as a utility man off the bench in the future.
"There's some of seeing how he can handle short but we've seen him play it before," Ventura said. "He's done it for us earlier in the year and last year. You see him at short and it looks pretty good."
It is far-fetched that the White Sox are taking a look at Semien at shortstop in case they want to trade Ramirez in the offseason. It would take a monster return to pry Ramirez away from the White Sox, especially after he rebounded from a mediocre year in 2013 to become an All-Star this season and return to a well-above-average level of defense.
It is just the fourth game all season where shortstop wasn't occupied by Ramirez, who still has two more seasons remaining on a team-friendly contract, when counting his 2016 team option year for $10 million.
"Compared to what Alexei does, when you see the range Alexei has, that's an elite range shortstop of what he does defensively," Ventura said. "I don't know if (Semien) is necessarily like that, but can he play it? Yeah."
Just because the White Sox are exploring Semien's versatility on defense doesn't mean that he won't be considered for the starting second base job next season. The White Sox are expected to enter the spring with competitive battle for the job at second between Semien, Carlos Sanchez and Micah Johnson.
Johnson projects as the better long-term second baseman of the future, but he is the only one of the three options without any major league experience.