Like Jesus, I often look for the oppressed and the outcasts who fill the streets of dreams. We are both Sons. But this space is not limited to the poor. I show no favoritism or discrimination based on race, age, production, weight, height, team affiliation, batting stance, throwing motion, hat bend, use of sunglasses, batting gloves, sock length, amount of bling displayed, or language spoken. . Sometimes I just feel the need to praise a player because something sticks out on the screen like a chameleon’s tongue sucking its lunch. And thanks to the Great Gray for letting me write about anything and anyone. Who? Good thing no one reads these pieces.
This week’s OMT is dedicated Matt Chapman of the San Francisco Giants.
Chapman is 31 years old, 6-foot, 215 pounds, and bats from right. The Oakland Athletics selected him in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft. He spent three years in the minors before joining the big club, where he was a mainstay in the lineup for four years. Chapman was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, spent two seasons there and then signed a one-year deal with the Giants before this season.
Throughout his minor league career, the walk rate was high, but so was the strikeout rate. Power was dominant, hitting 23 and 29 home runs in Single-A and Double-A, respectively. He showed flashes of steal ability but only had seven points on the season. The batting average was a struggle from the get-go, languishing in the .250 range.
When he became a full member of the Athletics, Chapman averaged over 600 plate appearances per season and scored nearly 25 runs per season. In 2019, he posted 36 homers, scored 101 runs, and drove in 91. While he continued to post double-digit walk rates, his strikeout rate exploded into the mid-30s, and ISO began to dip as he approached 30 years of age.
This season, the walk rate is 11.3%, the strikeout rate is 23.9% and the ISO is .182. The slash last season was .240/.330/.424. Notably, the slash is .242/.334/.424 so far this season.
His average exit velocity is 92.6 mph, slightly lower than the 93.5 mph from last season, but still above the career average of 92.2 mph. He hits some ground balls and a few fly balls, but his HR/FB is still 12.1%. He’s chasing a few more pitches out of the strike zone (23.1%), but his contact rates are much improved (above 80% for the first time since 2019) and his swinging strikeout rate is 9.2%, the first time under 10% in five seasons. .
But this piece is not about hitting. It’s about stolen bases. Chapman has 12 this season. He had 11 total in seven MLB seasons. When he was in Oakland, the team was near the bottom when it came to steals. Toronto was 20th and 19th in attempts as a team when he was there. San Francisco died last season, and they were 30 last season.
I never thought Chapman had speed, but then I looked at his Statcast page. He is in the 88th percentile with a running speed of 28.8 ft/s. WHAT??!! This must be some kind of error or the matrix is confusing me. Then I took a look at his all-time rushing yards – 28.7 in 2017 and 28.5 last season.
Chapman is ranked 55th on the Razzball Player Rater so far this season. Rest of Season Player Rater has him at 226, so the bot probably isn’t buying into the stolen base ability. I get it as this seems to be an outlier and will not continue. But, but, but….he has legit speed! It’s not like he’s Prince Fielder-esque, hovering around a 275-pound frame with 12th percentile running speed.
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