Matt Chapman should already have some space dedicated on his mantle for a Gold Glove. Check back in 2023 to see if he can match Eric Chavez’s streak of six straight Gold Gloves from the A’s hot corner, but this year’s should be a lock.
And with the way he’s been swinging the bat lately, does Chapman deserve some MVP consideration?
Advertisement
“There’s probably a little more time left in the season, but what he’s meant to us would certainly suggest that,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “You look at all the metrics defensively, head and shoulders above everybody else. Now he’s swinging the bat and it’s going to get better, too. As good as he is right now, he has the ability to get a lot better. He’s going to end up being one of those guys — one of those top-flight guys that you’re probably going to talk about every year in that conversation.”
It’s mid-August and here the A’s are, with baseball’s lowest payroll, just two games back of the idle Houston Astros following Monday’s 7-6 victory over the Mariners, who dropped 2.5 games back in the race for the second American League wild-card.
Chapman led the charge with a trio of doubles and (another) stellar defensive play to rob Jean Segura of a hit in the fourth inning. Sean Manaea is running out of words to describe what it’s like to pitch in front of Chapman every fifth day. Cameras caught the southpaw with his mouth agape following Chapman’s diving stab.
“Unbelievable,” Manaea said. “I don’t even know what I was saying. Just screaming gibberish. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to me but that play was huge.”
Offensively, that’s 27 straight games on base for Chapman, a streak currently outmatched only by the otherworldly Matt Carpenter. Chapman’s batting average (.279) keeps on rising along with other metrics like his wRC+ (140) and OPS+ (139) which point to his overall production. He’s not just a streaky hitter anymore. To say nothing of his 25 defensive runs saved, a category in which he’s outclassed everyone.
With the victory, the A’s are the second-hottest team in baseball after the All-Star break (16-6), behind only the Boston Red Sox (18-5). In all likelihood, J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts will probably eat up most of the MVP votes before Chapman gets them, but he’s got to be in the conversation. A look at the MLB WAR leaderboards finds Chapman fifth on baseball-reference.com (6.5) and sixth on FanGraphs (5.2) entering play Monday.
Advertisement
A reminder that the 25-year-old is making only $547,500 this year, slightly above the minimum. Agent Scott Boras, who reportedly spurned offers from the A’s earlier this year to discuss a contract extension, is sure looking smart.
Melvin has penciled Chapman into the No. 2 hole for the past 15 contests and he’s thrived near the top of the order. In that span, Chapman is slashing .350/.412/.717 with 14 runs scored, eight doubles, four homers and nine RBIs. After spending most of the season in the 5-6-7 positions in the order, Chapman said he’s enjoyed his ascent to the second spot.
“I think that it plays well for me,” Chapman said. “I feel like I’m a table-setter right now, just trying to get on base and trying to let Jed (Lowrie) and (Khris Davis) drive me in. If that’s what BoMel thinks what’s best for the team, I’m with it.”
Lowrie continued to emerge from his funk with another three-hit day that included two doubles and resulted in four RBIs.
If the A’s wanted to set to the tone for this crucial homestand, which features a subsequent three-game series against the Astros, this was a way to start. Manaea’s velocity slowed as the evening plodded on — his fastball velocity decreased from the 91-92 range to about 87-88 by the time he left in the eighth — but the A’s ace challenged the Mariners with little resistance. He bounced back from his previous start, his shortest of the year, to allow two runs on five hits and two walks over 7 2/3 innings, the longest outing since his no-hitter.
Manaea has never pitched in the postseason, but he can feel the intensity ramping up against the division rivals.
“You can definitely feel it everywhere,” Manaea said. “Every game means something and that’s how we’re playing. Just gotta keep going.”
As he stepped off the field to a standing ovation, most probably expected the A’s to breeze through the final four outs of the game. But the Mariners, winners of more one-run games than any team in baseball, didn’t let the A’s off easy. Seattle poked two runs across in the eighth against Emilio Pagan and Lou Trivino before Jeurys Familia really made things interesting in the ninth. Familia couldn’t find the plate and walked the bases loaded, prompting Melvin to summon Blake Treinen for a save situation. Mitch Haniger’s two-run single clipped the A’s lead to one but Treinen struck out slugger Nelson Cruz for the game’s final out.
Advertisement
“It feels like playoff baseball,” Treinen said. “I think it has for us for a long time, because we knew what we had to do to climb out of our situation. … Sometimes you see peaks and valleys throughout the season. Our valley was at the beginning of the season.”
This Mariners lineup will look different Tuesday, though, as Monday marked the final day of Robinson Cano’s 80-game suspension. Cano has found success against A’s scheduled starter Mike Fiers, going 4 for 11 (.364) with two homers, and will surely add some spice to this race down the stretch run.
“It’s really the one true race with multiple teams,” Melvin said. “It should be a lot of fun.”
— Reported from Oakland
(Top photo: Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports)